Bleeding Diamonds
by HordeFighter
Summary: This is the squeal to fire and Flames. The summary is inside the first chapter because it was too long to write in this tiny little space. Please read and enjoy this story like you did the first one and don't forget to review I love them reviews.
1. Depression

Chapter 1

(Katniss POV)

I place my hand against my flat stomach; this is where our child is supposed to be. Moving around happily, kicking me so hard that I will not be able to get any sleep. A boy? A girl? What would have it been? I guess I would never know because he is gone to the world and it was all thanks to me. I killed my baby with the help of his father. I should have never gotten close to him, nor should have tried to bring him back from the deadly images that cursed and poisoned his mind. He was never going to forgive himself for what he has done to me and our child. I wouldn't be surprised if he never came back at all, if he decided to stay as far away from me as possible. I had to remain positive and not think like that, He loved me too much to stay away from me like this and I loved him too much to back down without a fight. I wasn't going to give up on him so easily, and I wasn't going to let him vanish from my life. What if he tried to take his own life while he was in the capitol? What if the guilt of killing our baby was so bad that he decided to end it all? No, Haymitch and Effie would never let him do such a thing, He was under supervision. Besides, I knew he wouldn't do that to me; he would not kill himself and leave me all alone to deal with his death. However, those thoughts were still lingering in the back of my mind. When Peeta left me, not only a couple weeks ago, he made Gale (of all people) promise to take care of me and make sure I didn't do anything reckless or stupid. Gale had punched him square in the face and yelled at him for hurting me so much, not just because of the baby, but because he was tearing my heart into two pieces, but then after the first couple punches, Gale promised him he would take care of me. He grabbed him by his collar and threatened that if Peeta didn't come back to me and I remained a heartbroken young women for the rest of my life, then he was going to hunt him down to the end of the earth and kill him. Gale usually keeps his promises, too. I slapped Gale when he told me all of what he had done to Peeta. He didn't need to be hitting and threatening Peeta at a time like this. It was a dark time and I just wanted it to end.

I was curled up in a ball on our bed, staring at my beautiful pearl ring the glittered in the moonlight. The light was seeping through the curtains and illuminating my entire bedroom with a beautiful, soft glow. The large empty space beside me brought tears to my eyes. This is where he should be, holding me, kissing me, whispering in my ears, telling me how much he loves me.

I can't stand the fact that Peeta is out of my reach, and is so many miles away from me. He should be close to the capitol by now. That vile place that filled my head with so many memories; so many scars and terrors. It was their fault, they did this to him. They made him live a life of hatred and despair. He never has really gotten over the episodes, and never had a break in between them, like he told me he did. I later found out that he had been lying to me all this time about not having as many as he used to. However, in reality, he was having more and more by the minute and I was so afraid that the poison in his mind was expanding and that eventually it would cause him to drop dead. Was that why he left me here in District 12? So he could die in the capitol by himself? So I wouldn't have to see him die?

I cried into his pillow on the opposite side of me and tightened the hold I had on it. I inhaled any scent I could get from the pillow, hoping to catch his scent, but nothing pierced my nostrils but the smell of laundry freshener. My mother had just cleaned the sheets and pillows on the bed so any scent he left behind, was now gone thanks to the long wash in the washer downstairs.

I thought everything was peaceful; we had been living together so wonderfully for the past five years and all of a sudden our peace is interrupted by this horrible situation that we find ourselves in. I lost my baby, the love of my life and, once again, my sanity. I couldn't function without him, and he knew it, but yet, he stayed away from me. We were so many miles apart from each other, I could barely stand it.

I sobbed into his pillow. Eventually, those sobs turned to agonizing cries and soon, I was crying so hard that snot made its way out of my nostrils. I could feel my face heat up. My body was shaking and aching, my head pounded and all I wanted to do was find him, curl up next to him and have him hold me in his strong arms. But no such luck. He was gone and I didn't know if he was going to come back to me or stay in the capitol.

I cried and cried and cried, not being able to stop the horrible tears that were staining Peeta's pillow. I had my head buried into the pillow while tears streamed down my face, while thoughts about him never returning bounced around in my mind. We didn't end on good terms; I had gotten a bit mad at him because he was leaving me and because he had told me to move on to someone else if he did not come back. I threw my ring at him and I knew it hurt him so much, but the anger I felt towards him that day forbid any type of compassion.

More tears were flowing from my eyes as the door to my bedroom creaked opened, but I did not care as to who it was. I looked towards the two shadowy figures that were now present in my room. They were making their way across the floor and over to my large empty bed, but I paid very little attention to them and kept crying my eyes out.

I was lying on my stomach in the middle of my bed with nothing but Peeta's pillow wrapped in my arms. Both sides of the bed dipped down and I became aware of someone was wrapping their large, strong arms around me. As this was happening, a small sized hand began stroking my hair and patting my forehead.

I much rather be in Peeta's arms, than my best friend Gale Hawthorne; who was finally started to accept the fact that I was madly in love with Peeta. He knew how much I loved Peeta and how much it was hurting me to be away from him. He was trying his best to comfort me, but it wasn't his comfort I wanted; it was Peeta's. Gale was trying really hard to be a good friend and I thanked him for that. He no longer yelled at me for being in love with Peeta like he did when he first came back to District 12 about four or five months ago. He was really mean to me and that was only because he was in love with me. Hell, he was still in love with me I could see it every time his hungry eyes looked at me. He couldn't help it though; nobody could help who they fall in love with. I only hope Gale would fall out of love with me in time and move onto someone that would actually love him with all their heart and soul. He deserved that much. I just couldn't be the person to love him like that.

"Katniss," came Delly Cartwright's (Peeta's best friend) voice. Her voice was soft and somewhat soothing to me. She patted my head in a comforting way as I cried and cried. I couldn't stop the tears from coming.

I was lucky to have friends like Delly and Gale. They were the only ones that agreed to move into my house with me until Peeta made his return. Until the venom in his head was gone and he was able to think clearly. When was that going to be? When was he going to come home to me? What if he got to the capitol only to find out there was no cure to the venom? Would he stay there and work for President Paylor just so he wouldn't have to come back to me? My mother also lived in the house with me, but I hardly ever see her. She was too busy working at the hospital and taking care of people; it's like she doesn't even live here anymore. The only time I see her is at breakfast, dinner and when it is time for bed. Gale does live here somewhat but he is always working at the mines and taking care of his younger siblings. Ever since his mother died, he had to take the role of a parent in order for his family to survive. He doesn't work as much as he used to, when he first came back because he had received a huge amount of money that was long overdue from working in District 2. The money was like a final paycheck and he got a whole shit load of it.

"He loves you Katniss." Delly said as she continued to stroke my head. "He loves you more than anything in the world. He is doing this for you"

"Come on Catnip, no tears"

"H-he...L-left me" I managed to choke out and gripped his pillow tighter.

"Katniss, he knows what he is doing. I know Peeta... he will come back to you." Delly says, and pats me gently on my head.

"You need to stop crying now, alright sweetheart?" Gale hugs me closer to his body and I refuse to bury my head into his strong chest.

If I had my way, I would not be in his arms at all. I knew he was just trying to comfort me and all, but there was only on person's arms that I wanted to be wrapped up in and it sure as hell wasn't Gale; although I knew his intentions were good. I just wish these two would just leave me alone and go back into their rooms that were right next to mine. Delly's room was right of mine and Gale's was left. So, if I started sobbing like this, chances are they would hear me because these walls were somewhat thin and it was very easy to hear things. I was screwed either way because my mother's room was right across from mine so if neither Gale nor Delly heard me cry, then my mother would be the next person to comfort me.

"I-I want...him...b-back." I sobbed.

"Mellark won't abandon you" Gale says with confidence. He obviously doesn't know Peeta like I do; even if he does come back, Peeta was never going to touch me again. Not after having killed our child by accident, not after throwing me down a flight of stairs. Cutting me with a kitchen knife was one thing, but tossing me down a flight of stairs and causing me to miscarry our baby seemed too ruthless; even for his hijacked side. Thank God Haymitch was in the room when Peeta threw me. He was able to yank Peeta away from me when he bolted down the stairs after me to finish the job. Haymitch had to bash Peeta's head off a wall multiple times in order to knock him completely out. I could only lay there at the bottom of the steps while all kinds of pain pierced my entire body. When I started bleeding, Avara and Delly took me to the hospital immediately. I don't remember much after that; just blacking out and then waking up and having Doctor Hamila tell me I miscarried the baby. It was my entire fault; I should havenever tried to bring Peeta back from that episode. I should have known better and now, because of my recklessness, my son or daughter was dead; never having a shot at life because of me.

"Katniss you need to stop crying alright, hon?" Delly tells me, but her voice seems so far away. I might be slipping off into some much-needed sleep. The last thing I hear before falling asleep, is the sound of Gale's voice saying something like, 'I'll stay with her. You go get sleep'. I don't want him to sleep in Peeta's spot and hold me like Peeta does. It isn't right to have Gale in here. I don't want him in here. I really don't; but before I can say anything, sleep drags me under and I am greeted with nightmares that I haven't had in so long.

There are the people I have killed. I'm watching blood squirt from their bodies, watching them twitch and go limb. Then, it all fades and a little boy with blond hair and blue eyes comes into view, he's only about five years old. We are standing in the middle of the woods facing each other. He is a cute little thing, looking exactly like Peeta.

He approaches me and places his hand on my stomach, his face goes serious for a second then in a matter of minutes, blood started seeping from his body. He cries and now lays limp on the forest floor. I screamed and kneeled down beside the child taking his head in my lap. Then, my eyes traveled to the other figure in front of me: Peeta. He stood there with a deadly grin on his face while tapping a dagger happily off the tips of his fingers. I screamed as he launched the dagger towards me. There was no avoiding it, but before the tip of the metal blade made contact with my forehead, my gray eyes snapped open and I was lying in my bed.

The sun was so high in the sky; rays of light were seeping through my window instead of moonlight. I was alone, nobody was there beside me.

Gale must have gone back into his room after I had calm down last night; which was a good thing. I hated the thought of him sleeping in the same bed as me. I looked at the clock sitting on the nightstand it read; _11:30 am_. I was in no mood to get up today. If they allowed me, I would spend another day in bed. Although, I should get up and get a shower. I haven't had one of those in about a day or so and I didn't want to smell like crap.

I pulled my exhausted body off the bed. A tingling feeling ran down my legs as my feet hit the cold floor. I stretched the tightened muscles out of my legs and arms as a large yawn escaped from my mouth and I rubbed the sandman out of my tired eyes. As I was walking across the room, I came to a stop in front of my dresser and dug around to find something to wear. I found a pair of sweatpants and one of Peeta's large shirts that he had forgotten. I placed the shirt against my nostrils and inhaled his scent. It smelled like him. His shirt was the only little piece I had of him, besides the ring he gave me. I guess he forgot this one shirt when he was packing his clothes. He had taken almost everything; his clothes, tooth brush, everything; except for his painting supplies that stayed untouched and unused in the other room. I felt the tears begin to swell in my eyes, a few escaped and I wiped them away.

I slowly walked into the bathroom and turn the faucet on to extra hot. I shredded my clothes and allowed my body to be greeted with streams of hot scolding water that felt wonderful against the tense muscles. I rubbed shampoo and conditioner through my scalp and watch as the strands of white soap disappear beneath the drain. I placed my hands on the wall of the shower as I tried to decide if I want to go downstairs and join my friends and mother for breakfast. They would surely force me to anyway if I did not make an appearance at the table.

After my relaxing shower, I threw on my clothes and decided to calmly walk down the steps. Once I was down there, I was greeted with the fresh scent of pancakes, eggs, sausage and just about every breakfast food known to man.

I entered the kitchen and raised my brow as I caught sight of my prep team pushing tables together and setting plates and forks out for our large breakfast. God, I feel like I was in the capitol again.

Delly and Gale were helping my mother cook and once they saw me enter. I was immediately greeted with warm hellos. My prep team forced me to sit at the head of the table. Octavia poured me some juice while Venia set a plate in front of me.

I was somewhat glad they had stuck around instead of going back to the capitol with Haymitch, Effie and Peeta. I was reunited with my prep team at Haymitch's 47th birthday party. They had moved into one of the houses in the Victor's village for the time being. It was really sweet of them to hang around here in district 12 and make sure I was alright. My prep team was hysterical when they found out that I had lost the baby. They cried for me, cried for my child and cursed Peeta's name, which I slapped Octavia for that one. It wasn't Peeta's fault it was mine for getting to close to him. That was the final straw, once he discovered he fell into another episode, pushed me down a flight of stairs and caused me to lose our baby, he was on the first train out of here, desperately looking for a cure that would clear his head. I knew that there wasn't a cure.

"How are you doing today dear?" Venia asked me, placing a muffin on my plate.

"Fine." I lied. The truth was, I spent the majority of the night crying my eyes out, wishing Peeta was here to hold me, to comfort me and to save me from the nightmares that, for so long, remained dormant. However, now they were starting back up again. I vaguely remember Gale and Delly coming into my room and comforting me to the best of their ability.

My eyes wandered over to where the two of them stood still flipping pancakes. Gale was a lot taller than she was. They had their backs to me as I examined them and let a small smile appear of my face. They were the best of friends anyone could have ever had.

My friends cooked breakfast in silence, my prep team chatted away. Once everything was done, my mother set the large breakfast on the table for us to devour.

"Sleep well honey?" My mother asked me.

I shrugged, "Not really"

"Nightmares?" She asked, but Gale suddenly changed the subject.

"Good weather this morning, huh?" He pointed out, gazing out the small window above my stove. The winter season has come to a stop for the time being and a strange warm draft drifted across every inch of District 12. I couldn't wait until the cold, wet, chilly, white snow vanished and would be replaced by warm, delightful spring air. The flowers were going to bloom, the water in the lake would heat up to a reasonable temperature which would allow us to swim, and the animals that took shelter for winter would raise and happily start scouting for food. I was excited for the warm weather, the flowers, the fresh air and the running streams. It has been so long since I have seen nature. The constant white color was really getting old and miserable. Now that the winter season was nearly over in about a month or two, it was time for spring to blossom and show its beauty. I was no longer excited for the warmth that would soon spread through District 12. I could be picking out my wedding dress, my lovely decoration, writing invitations and even picking out bridesmaids. But none of that was going to happen now because Peeta left me and he wasn't coming back, or so that was what my mind kept telling me over and over.

"Would you like to come into town with me Katniss?" Delly suddenly asks, taking a sip from her cup of coffee. I knew what she was trying to do and it wasn't going to work. I was not ready to leave the house and face the world without Peeta. I haven't left the house since Peeta left me and that was about three weeks ago and I had no intentions of leaving this house until Peeta came back into my life. I know it's only been three weeks, but those three weeks felt like a three years.

"No thank you, Delly." I say biting my nail while staring at the untouched juice in front of me. I didn't feel like eating or drinking a darn thing. Let's face it; I had no desire for food or to engulf a glass of water or juice. I didn't want anything.

"Katniss," My mother glanced up at me with a fork in her hand and a scolding look written across her features. "You can't keep doing this."

"I'm not doing anything" I say weakly.

"You're going into town and getting out of this house." My mother ordered me.

"I don't want too." I rejected.

"Oh, but Katniss shopping is much fun." Octavia says butting into the private conversation me and my mother were having. I glance at each member of the team. I could see the excitement in their eyes, and the hope that I would say yes. I shook my head and rested it down against the table, not even bothering to touch the meal that has been laid out for me.

"We can get your hair done." Flavius smiles.

"Or your nails." Venia adds.

"We miss working on you Katniss." Octavia chirps, taking a huge bite of her sausage.

"No! Alright...I don't...want to!" My voice is strained and I struggle to keep tears out of my eyes. Going into town was hard for me because I knew that my eyes would wander to the bakery and I couldn't withstand to go in there, let alone, pass by it.

"You are not going to do this the whole time he is gone!" Gale's loud voice suddenly pierces my ears. I look up to see nothing but determination in his eyes and that determination in his eyes was for me. He was not going to let me mope around all day in bed, cry over Peeta and let my newly formed depression get the best of me. Gale was going to make sure I remained strong and happy. He knew everything that was going on with me, the situations I was in, the baby, Peeta's hijacking, and the abandoned peacekeepers that were wandering into the new capitol looking for a fight. I was not supposed to know about anything that was going on in the capitol; the new capitol. About three times someone has attempted to shoot President Paylor through the skull, four times did a band of abandon peacekeepers make their way into the capitol and start shooting at random. I really thought the peacekeepers had vanished but I guess I was wrong; they would never ever vanish. There were so many people in the world that had been brought up to be peacekeepers. Those people mostly come from District 2, so I guess rumor had it President Paylor was keeping a good eye on that district. District 2 was always the most loyal and faithful to the capitol. What if there people wanted things back to the way they were? It wouldn't surprise me if District 2 led the band of peacekeepers into the capitol.

"I didn't do anything." I muttered to Gale in a final response.

"Exactly, you're not doing anything but moping around here. You hardly eat; you're always crying for God sakes and dammit Katniss... Mellark wouldn't like it!"He exclaims.

I snapped at me, my anger getting the best of me. "You know nothing of the current situation I am in! The capitol is a dangerous place right now and I don't want him in there. Is it my fault that I am worried about him? If things are that bad and people are truly trying to kill Paylor, then..." Tears stung my eyes and I clutched the table cloth in my left hand. "Peeta could be killed and I...wouldn't have anything left to live for."

"Honey, getting yourself worked up about this won't help anyone." My mother calmly says.

"And who are you to tell me I am getting too worked up about my fiancée being in that place? A place where he could be killed any second."

"I know it's hard, but you have got to be strong." She tells me. That sets me off even more.

"Stay strong?! STAY STRONG?! Did you 'stay strong' when dad was in the mines? No. Did you 'stay strong' when he was killed because of the explosion? NO! You left me to fend for myself and Prim!" I rose and pounded my fists on the table, "So don't tell me to stay strong when you are far from it!"

"Katniss I think you should..."

"I thought of all people you would understand how I felt!" I yelled at my mother and excused myself from the table; I abandoned the untouched food and beverage and bolted upstairs. A pair of large footsteps was coming after me and that could only mean one person was following me. Gale gently grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me against his strong chest and allowed me to do nothing but sob until my eyes turned red and puffy, and my body began shaking.

"I-I want him here." I sobbed.

"Catnip, stop it alright. He's coming back." Gale assured me.

"No...No he's not coming back, the abandon peacekeepers will recognize him and they will kill him!" I wailed. Tears were coming down my face thick and fast now. "They'll kill him Gale...They'll kill him."

Gale took my face between his strong iron hands and wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "Look at me"

I refused and kept sobbing while staring at the ground.

"Look at me Katniss." He commanded with a slight turn of my head.

I obeyed and looked at him.

"He will be fine; there is nothing to worry about. President Paylor will find the source of Peacekeepers and she will put a stop to it. Peeta will find a cure to his venom and come back to you. Understand and then I'll walk you down the aisle, give you to him and you too can be together until you turn gray. You two will have beautiful children and...You'll become grandparents and eventually die together in your warm bed, in each other's arms and then after you're gone, you have the rest of the eternity in the after-life to spend with each other." His words were sweet, but I could tell it pained him to say it considering the fact that he was still somewhat in love with me, but he hid it well. The tears slowly subsided and I nodded my head in agreement. Peeta would come back; he had to come back for me, for us. He'll come back; he had to come back to me.

"I'm worried." I managed choke out.

"I know, but you know, Mellark has people with him." Gale says.

"That doesn't make things any better because Haymitch and Effie are still important to me, too."

"Everything is okay...Alright?" Gale wiped the tears that were still streaming down my face, "Now come downstairs and eat."

"I don't want to." I rejected.

"You have to eat. You haven't eaten for days." Gale looped his arms around me and forced me to walk down the steps, into the kitchen and back to where I was sitting. My prep team shot me sorrowful looks and then started telling me how sorry they were that I was suffering. I just wanted them to shut up and not give me their sympathy. I can do this on my own; I can handle having Peeta in the capitol looking for a cure that didn't exists.

My mother placed a large pancake on my plate and coated it with syrup. The juice Octavia had poured me still remained untouched. I was too worked up to eat, but I knew Gale would not let me leave this table until every bit of that pancake was eaten...so I began picking at it while my mind wandered to Peeta.

"I am so glad the weather is starting to warm up. It gives me a chance to wear my new shoes." Octavia smiled widely.

I rolled my eyes at her and cut a small piece of pancake and put it in my mouth. I wanted to escape these people and go upstairs, curl under the blankets and hide from the world outside. I tuned out the loud chatter of my prep team and focus on the sticky syrup that is causing the pancake in front of me to become soggy. I stared at it for the longest while not bothering to touch anymore of it. After breakfast, I actually helped mom with the dishes. We were completely silent; I was not saying one word to her. I was pissed at her for telling me to be strong and basically forget the fact that Peeta was in the capitol with Haymitch (two people that meant more to be than life) looking for a phantom cure.

I dried the dishes with a dry wash cloth and put them in their proper places on the shelves. Once they were all done, my mother pulled the plug from the sink and allowed the dirty water to rush down into the pipes.

"I know you love him, sweetie, and I know you worry, but the worst thing you can do right now be depressed like this." She says calmly.

"How can I not be depressed? I lost my baby and my fiancée. The world seems to be going back to the way it was. The man I love, my mentor and father figure, and Effie could all be dead by morning"

"Sweetheart, Paylor knows what she is doing."

"I just can't believe there are still people out there that want the capitol as it was," I frowned.

"Honey it's mostly District 2." She explains.

No surprise there; District 2 was always the favorite one of the capitol and had always favored the capitol most before any other district; District 1 was just as bad as District 2. If war did break out in the capitol again, I would bet all the money I have that District 1 and 2 would side with the peacekeepers and try and destroy the new world Paylor has created. It is sick, in a way, that these people would want the old capitol people back in power. Did they really want that kind of life? To have to watch their children fight to the death in an arena each year? The arenas have been destroyed, but still the point is the old Capitol is ruthless and cruel and I know there is someone just as bad as President Snow out there, waiting for the right time, waiting for a chance to pounce at our freedom.

"If it comes down to it and war breaks out again, I am going to that capitol and taking down every last peacekeeper that stands in my way." I say, determined.

"This isn't your problem anymore." She says.

"The hell if it isn't. The love of my life is in there and if war breaks out and he is still in there, that does it. I will be on the next train to the capitol in a second."

"You won't go back there because Gale and I will stop you" She said.

"You want to keep me from him?" I raised my voice a bit, frustrated at my mother for even thinking about trying and keeping me away from Peeta.

"I'll keep you away from danger." She replies.

I said nothing else and dried the remaining dishes, placing them in the cabinet. I shot one last dirty look at my mother and stalked off into the living room to laze about by the fireplace. We no longer needed this fireplace to keep us warm. It was warm outside and about time to I was getting sick and tired of seeing nothing but white snow littering every inch of District 12; four long months of the stuff is long enough. My front door opened and Flavius poked his head through the doorway and gave me a large smile. I loved his orange corkscrew curls that bounced on the top of his head every time he took a step.

"Coming Katniss? We are going shopping." Flavius invited me.

"No thanks." I rejected him.

"Why? You have other plans?" He asks in disappointment.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Gale answered for me, "Yes she is going hunting with me."

Flavius smiled widely again, nodded his head in understanding and shut the door behind him. I stared at Gale with such a hard expression as he made his way over to the door and scooped up my hunting boots that I had not used in so long. He grabbed the spring coat off the rack and laid my gear on the empty space on the couch next to me. I made no attempt to knowledge the gear and laid my throbbing head against the arm of the couch.

"Come on put the gear on and let's go." Gale ordered.

"I don't want to go hunting" I said.

"Now!" He said with a straight and serious expression written across his face. He wasn't going to back down until I gave in and put on my hunting gear and I wasn't going to back down until he walked in the other direction and left me alone to my thoughts.

"No." I challenged him.

"Katniss Rose Everdeen right now." He demanded, almost cruelly.

"You're not my mother."

"No, I'm worse. Now get up." He commanded me with a small yell.

"No."

"Fine. We'll do this the hard way then." Gale stood there with his arms folded across his chest. He moved across the floor so he was standing right in front of me. He scooped up my boots and grabbed hold of my leg with such force. I struggled but he managed to slide on my boots and lift me off the couch to slide on my jacket. I struggled the whole time, but then gave up my struggle as he flipped me over his shoulder and carried me outside to greet the temporary warm air. I pounded on Gale's back the whole way to the forest. There was no more fence around District 12 anymore, so we did not have to crouch through the weak part. It was such a relief that they had torn down that massive fence and allowed us to come in go in the woods as freely as possible. We were permitted to hunt, trade and do anything our little hearts desired.

"Gale I think I can walk." I say and pound harder on his back.

He ignored me and carried me deeper into the forest. We were right smack dab in the middle of the forest when Gale decided to put me down. He gently set me on my feet and I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at the ground that has been hidden under the snow for so long. I almost forgot what the green grass looked like because it has been hidden under the white snow for so long. I took a good look around my surroundings and a gentle feeling of peace began to wash over me. The woods are my second home, it was my place of solitude. I really missed being here; I haven't been here in so long. I had forbid myself from ever stepping foot in this place because of my baby, but now that I had lost him, it didn't make much of a difference anyway. I didn't have to be careful anymore, opposed to that, I could be a reckless as I wanted to be and nobody was going to tell me otherwise.

"Let's shoot a deer today." Gale says trying to lightened the mood.

"Go ahead."

He grunted in frustration, "Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?"

"I don't like it when people force me to do things that I don't want to do!" I hiss at him.

"Too damn bad Katniss. I am not going to sit there and watch you be miserable because he left you." Gale hissed back at me and threw his book bag he had been carrying to the ground. He kneeled down and unzipped it, pulling out a knife and snare gear. I usually kept my bow and arrows in the woods because they were too dangerous to be left in my house. I just wasn't comfortable leaving them there with my family and friends nearby.

"Act like you care." I spit out.

Gale raised his eyebrows, "What are you talking about? I care about you a hell of a lot more than you deserve."

"You are thrilled Gale. I can see it in your eyes." I say sarcastically. The volume of my voice began to raise and so did his.

"What the hell are you talking about Katniss?" He questions with a shout.

"This is what you wanted all along isn't it? Him out of my life? Well here you go; he is gone." I really should not be being mean to him like this, but my emotions were rocketing and I was outraged at him for making me come out here when all I wanted to do was go home and curl up in a ball. I knew it was an unhealthy thing to do, but it seemed like it was the best option at the moment.

"I thought we put that behind us." Gale brought his voice down to a normal level and looked at me with such a sorrowful expression.

"I thought so to, but obviously you are not able to take your eyes off of me for only a second!" I yell at him.

"Do you even hear yourself? What is wrong with you Katniss?"

"WHAT IS WRONG? I'LL TELL YOU WHATS WRONG! I miscarried my baby with the help of his father, my fiancée left me to go to the capitol to search for a cure that has been slowly torturing him for so many years and the peacekeeper issue seems to be getting worse and worse every day." I raised my voice louder, echoing the whole forest, "I WON'T DO THIS AGAIN I WON'T"

"You won't have to do anything, okay? Paylor will take care of it." He yelled with just as much volume in his voice as mine.

I wanted to stop talking to him about this. Gale just didn't get how I felt; he just doesn't get that I don't function well without Peeta. I wrapped my arms around my chest and began walking towards the Victor's Village. I didn't want to hunt today and Dammit... Gale was not going to make me. He cut me off by stepping in front of me and placing his strong arms against my shoulders.

"Let's go find a deer." Gale orders again.

"I really don't want to." I mumbled with an edge to my voice.

Gale threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "What you want to mope around all day, feeling sorry for yourself just because he left you for a good reason?"

Gale was being hard on me because he cared so much about me that I knew for a fact. I could feel the tears start to rise up again as I turned my back on him and took a seat on the hard forest floor. I placed my head on my knees and the sobbing began. I couldn't help that I was broken beyond repair. Nothing besides Peeta could fix me. I needed to be beside him, I needed to be in his safe arms, but that was impossible. He was never going to touch me again, hold me again or even kiss me again. He couldn't forgive himself for abusing me that night when he tossed me down the large flight of stairs. I tried to tell him over and over that it was not his fault that he didn't need to pack his things, but my words didn't stop him and he left on the train station with Haymitch and Effie. If loosing Peeta wasn't enough, I had to lose Haymitch too. Haymitch was my father-figure and one of my best friends.

Gale crouched down beside my weeping form and pulled me into a gentle hug. My head hit his chest and I began to imagine and pretend that I was in Peeta's arms.

"Mellark loves you, alright? He fricking loves you. You have to stay strong for him." He said quietly.

"I know...I just...I can't do it!" I sobbed.

"Stop it now, Katniss." He forced me to my feet and wiped the tears that were forming in my eyes. I leaned against him and allowed more to flow down my face. Gale let me cry for the longest time before scooping me up into his arms and heading back to the house for lunch. We obviously didn't catch anything; it was kind of a mistake that he had brought me out here. I knew my best friend was just trying to help, but I was broken beyond repair and the only one that could help me was Peeta and he was beyond reach.

Gale set me on my feet before reaching the house. He patted me on the shoulder and entered my living room with me trailing behind him. I kicked off my shoes and went straight up to bed, never making eye contact with Gale or the others as I bolted upstairs and curled up on the bed. I curled up on his side and my mind began to wander, it wasn't long before I fell into a deep sleep. But before I did go to sleep, my last thought was, _how was I going to escape District 12 and begin my journey to the capitol?_

To be continued...


	2. Thats What Best Friends Do

Chapter 2

That's what Best Friends do.

(Gale's POV)

I hated seeing Catnip like this; she was so miserable and heartbroken. What I would give to punch Mellark in his stupid little face again.

I watch Katniss bolt up the steps after we got back from hunting. Maybe taking her outside wasn't a good idea after all. I figured since it was nice and warm outside, (a bit too warm for a February, but hey I'm not complaining) that she could use a little time in the fresh outdoors. It wasn't healthy for her to be cooped up in the house all day and that was what she has been doing for so many weeks, ever since Mellark had left her. It was strange for me to understand this deep connection she had with him…. Hell, everything that had to do with love confused the hell out of me. How could two people that loved each other so much be so miserable without the other? It didn't make sense. None of it made any sense to me. I didn't get why she was being like this just because her lover left. I didn't understand why she had to cry her eyes out just because he was not there holding her tightly at night or kissing her lips. I could do that just as easily as he can, but no. She does not want me like she wants him. She wants me around as her friend and I get that, but I just don't understand why she has to shed so many tears over this dude. I will never understand women or no...I will never understand Katniss. And I will never understand love. The way I look at love is you find someone that you are attracted to and then start a relationship with them or maybe it is more than that. I was and still am attracted to Katniss, but it's not just because of her looks. I may have been attracted to her for many reasons, but I still see no point in crying over stupid things like this. I could live without her, I could watch her leave, I have stayed out of her life for more than five years and in those five years, I didn't not feel anything. I did not feel sorrow, not depression, nothing. Mellark has been gone not only three week and already Katniss looks like she is dead on her feet. Maybe I'm not as in love with her as I thought I would be. Maybe she is not my soul mate, like I thought she was. What I knew was that she needed me and I was not going anywhere.

I kicked off my boots and shoved them in the corner by the front door. The smell of stew filled my nostrils as I entered the kitchen and caught sight of Mellark's perky little friend, Delly, stirring the contents of the pot with a wooden spoon. I took a moment to examine every inch of her and, to tell you the truth, she wasn't at all bad looking. She had a petite figure and long blonde hair. She was actually somewhat pretty, but yet somewhat annoying. I was glad Delly Cartwright decided to move in with Katniss because I couldn't be here all the time. My family still needed me and so did the mines. I hated working in the mines and wanted to quit so badly. But if I quit, then I wouldn't be able to pay for my mother's house. Taxes were still crazy even after the old Capitol fell. Katniss always offers me money and I always refused to accept it. She deserved that money. She had to get something out of the Capitol. They threw her into the arena to die, to kill and finally to become victor. The least they could do is give her money that would last her the rest of her life. I won't take it because, one, it's from the Capitol and, two, because Katniss needs something out of getting threatened, injured and scarred. I still hate the Capitol even though it is under the control of someone different from President Snow. I don't care who was running the damn place, I was always going to hate it.

"Hey Delly," I greet her.

"Gale," She nodded and continued to stir the stew.

We were silent for a moment. Then, Delly looks up from the stew, "How's she doing?"

"Bad. He better find that damn cure and fast," I say.

"He'll try."

"The mother fu..." My voice trails off as she shoots me a deadly look.

She hated it when I would insult Peeta and call him vulgar names, names that he deserved. I hated the fact he was hurting Katniss so damn much. Nobody hurts her and gets away with it. Although, I guess I have room to talk because when I first walked back into her life, all I did was hurt her, make her cry, call her stupid and just try and convince her that she was forcing herself to love another man, which she obviously wasn't. I will admit I was the biggest ass and as much as it hurts me, I have to come to face the fact that we are nothing but friends that her heart is with him. I will never get over the fact that I could have had her if I reacted differently, if I came back to 12 with her instead of taking that fancy job in District 2. My time in 2 wasn't completely horrible. I made a lot of money and just recently, they sent me my last paycheck which my mouth nearly dropped at the large amount written on the check. Anyway, I was really glad to get out of two. Those people freaked the shit out of me with all their strict rules. Being there seriously did remind me of the Capitol. They were just too fancy for my liking and I did not trust a single person in that whole District and to top things off, I had gotten a women from 2 pregnant. Joyan seemed like my soul mate at the time, but once she was pregnant and once she lost the baby, things went downhill and she started treating me like crap. But that was all in the past. Now, I was a single man and would always be a single man because there was only one girl for me and that was Katniss Everdeen. The girl I couldn't have. The girl who basically saved Panem from a ruthless ruler.

I took a seat on the large wooden chair and watched Delly stir the stew. She moved her hand in a circular motion and took a sip of the stew. The corner of her lips lifted into a smile and I watched her shut the flames on the stove off and place a lid over the pot. Delly turned around to finally knowledge my presence. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she was dressed in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. She really did look pretty. At least I had someone to look at while Katniss was out of my sight and away from me. A man like me needs pretty little things to look at every now and thing. I mean what guy doesn't need to look at a women's tight little figure, the chest, the butt and just about every part. Delly had nice parts and the way her clothing hugged her body, I could stare all day.

"How was the hunt?" She asked.

"How do you think it went?" I replied, grimly.

"Horribly," She replied.

She walked across the kitchen floor and slid into the seat next to me. I watched her run a hand through her blonde hair that was tied in a ponytail and wipe the sweat that was forming over her eyebrows. She was probably sweating because of the heat the stove was radiating.

She wasn't such a bad girl, although she would get on my nerves when I insulted Mellark. She would give me these nasty glares, these lectures that I didn't want to hear and to top it all off, Katniss would join in the lectures and tell me I knew nothing about him. I knew enough about Peeta Mellark.

Delly drummed her fingers against the table top. We were silent for a couple of minutes before Delly turned her head and let out a soft, 'hello'. I turned my head to the side to see who she was talking to. I was nearly shocked to see Katniss leaning against the door frame. Her eyes were puffy and red, probably from all the crying.

She didn't greet Delly back as she walked across the kitchen floor and slid into an empty chair next to me. I placed my hand against her forehead, she was burning up pretty badly I hope she wasn't coming down with anything. She looked like hell.

"Are you alright Catnip?" I questioned her. It was a stupid question really: of course she wasn't alright.

Katniss shrugged, "I just wanted to say I am sorry for ruining the hunting trip" Her voice was low and strained.

"Oh, it's fine," I assured her and patted her delicate head.

"No, it's not... I just... ruined everything" She mumbles.

"Oh sweetie, you did not," Delly smiled.

"You guys are the best of friends away could ever ask for, but yet, I don't deserve either of you," Katniss says quietly.

"You deserve us. After everything you've been there. You deserve to be loved." I smile.

There was something not right about Katniss here. Just only a couple minutes ago, she was biting my head off, telling me how much she hated being forced into the woods, crying and screaming for Peeta and now here she was out of bed, leftover tears on her face. She was trying to act happy and failing miserably at it. I could always tell when she was actually happy or actually sad and, right now, she was beyond depressed. Why in the world was she trying to act happy, for our sake? Did she not want us to be worried about her? Or was she seriously trying to get better? I didn't know what was going on but I was going to find out.

"So guys, do you two want to go into town?" I asked.

"What for?" Delly and Katniss asked in union.

"Well, I got to get a few things at the new hob, check on my siblings. Which by the way, Posy really misses you," I tell Katniss, hoping a smile would appear on her face and she would agree to go into town with me, but the look in her eyes told me she was going to say 'no'.

"Okay." She said. I was shocked and I knew her words were forced, but I didn't let that stop me. She had already said she would and I wasn't going to let her back down now.

I looked over at Delly wanting an answer out of her too. She smiled and nodded her head in agreement. I got my shoes and Katniss's shoes. We all pulled on our gear, locked up the house real tight and were greeted by the warm air that still lingered. It was odd to have the snow disappear during a February, but I didn't care. I hated the cold weather so much. I hated shivering and I hated the color white. If I had my way, I would skip the winter season completely. Maybe it was done for the year (I highly doubt that). It was odd having warm weather during a February morning. It was odd, but not impossible.

Delly and I walked side by side with Katniss slowly trailing behind us. Every once in awhile, I would glance over my shoulder to make sure she hadn't wandered off in a different direction, which she didn't. When we entered the town the first thing Katniss' eyes wandered to was the bakery. Shoot. I had forgotten all about the bakery. I bit my lip hoping Katniss wouldn't start to cry, hoping she would not make a scene in the middle of town. She didn't though.

"Guys want to come into the Hob?" I ask.

"Nope," Katniss mumbled and took a seat on one of the benches outside the Hob. Her eyes remained locked on the building across from the Hob, which was the bakery. I wanted to force her eyes away from it, wanted to force her to focus on anything but that building. I cleared my throat causing her eyes to wander towards me.

"I am going to stand out here with Katniss. You take our time," Delly tells me.

I nod at the two of them and enter the Hob, which was packed. The new Hob is a lot bigger than the old one, after the Capitol was defeated the people of District 12 not only rebuilt their homes, shops and jobs, but they also rebuilt the Hob and this time, it was legal to trade things amongst your friends and neighbors. We didn't have to worry about a head peacekeeper burning it to the ground because the peacekeepers have been removed from each and every district, but we still needed someone to enforce law. Certain things like robbery, assault and, on rare occasions, murder were all still serious crimes, even in Paylor's eyes. So instead of having ruthless, merciless peacekeepers, we have police officers. They used that term long ago in the old days, before hunger struck and basically destroyed everything. People had it easy in this country that used to be called North America. They had a good supply of food, but some of them couldn't afford it, they had schools, they had cars and they had a better life than we did. Too bad that all ended, or at least that was what the history books said. I really had no choice in paying attention in class when I was in school. The teacher would scold me, punish me and embarrassed me every time I laid my head down in class and went to sleep. So I would just start paying attention when the embarrassments got worse.

Anyway, the police officers are much more laid back than the peacekeepers ever were. They don't kill us if we hold a firearm. If someone is on death row, it is because they murdered someone else. That is the only way we would be killed. If we stole or broke a law of some sort, we would get thrown in jail for a couple weeks, not whipped or lashed. Getting whipped hurts so much and they used to do it for the stupidest reasons. I got busted for having a wild turkey and, boy, I never ever want to go through that type of pain again.

Jail was a small little room in the police station that had bars as doors. The purpose of the bars was to keep you in the room until you learned your lesson. District 12 people didn't find themselves in jail usually. We were nicer than some of the other people in different districts. We all knew each other and would not even dream of stealing off the other. However, there was this one group of low-life's that I would like nothing more than to pound the shit out of. There were five of them and they always wandered the street after dark terrorizing the good citizens that were in the process of closing up their shops, or tearing down their stands in the Hob. They were a bunch of jerks that really need to be thrown in jail for the rest of their unnatural life.

I walked through the Hob until I found the stand where Old Ripper was selling her bottles of liquor. I usually didn't drink too much but for some reason, I had a craving for it. Also, I needed new hunting boots because I just recently discovered a huge hole in the bottom of mine.

"Good afternoon, Gale." Ripper greets me in a low tone of voice. She really is getting up there in age I am really surprised she is still kicking. I am very fond of her, but I kind of get distracted when speaking to her because of her missing arm. I don't know why but my eyes always travel to her arm, I didn't mean to be rude about it; it was just one of them things that you just had to look at.

"Good afternoon. Can I have a bottle of white liquor, please?" I ask her kindly. My eyes went to the stump where her arm was supposed to be. She smiled widely to me and rummaged through a couple of drawers beneath her table, pulling out the decent sized bottle. She slides the bottle into a brown paper bag and hands it to me. I pay her the right amount of money and gently took the bottle from her hand.

"Say where is my best customer at?" Ripper asks me before I walk away.

"And who would that be?"

"Mr. Abernathy?" She smiles warmly. Haymitch as her best customer or that was what Katniss had told me. I didn't really know him like Katniss did, but she told me he was a bit of a lush but was trying to quit for his girlfriend's sake.

"He is away on business," I replied. That was the best thing I could possibly say to her at the moment. Ripper smiled again and turned her back towards me. I took the chance she gave me to escape without another word and hurried along to the next stand to buy my boots and see about a new hunting jacket.

I had to be careful and spend my money wisely. This was the last huge paycheck from District 2 and I just didn't want to spend it on myself. I wanted to bring in a good amount of food into my house for my siblings. Ever since my mother passed away, I have been doing everything I could to take care of Rory, Vick and Posy. Although Rory can pretty much take care of himself now, he has grown into a strong young man and I knew mom would be proud of him. Rory wanted to take a job deep in the mines but I told him there was no damn way. He was not going to go down there and after many arguments, he settled for a caretaking job, which paid very little, but it was a start.

I bought a cheap pair of hunting boots and left the Hob. It was kind of a waste of my time in going there. When I exited the Hob, I found Katniss and Delly right where I left them. The two of them seemed to be having a normal conversation. Katniss actually cracked a smile. Everything was going well until a young woman with blonde hair came to a stop right in front of us with three other girls standing behind her. She had her hands on her hips and was scowling at Katniss.

"Hi, Ceal." Delly greeted in her cheery tone.

"Not now, Del," Ceal said, placing her hand in Delly's face.

She was glaring at Katniss with such hatred and all I wanted to do, was wipe that nasty little smirk right off her face. Katniss was going through too much right now and she didn't need this strange girl coming up to her and shooting her nasty glares. Katniss met Ceal's glare and raised her eyebrows in confusion. She was confused now.

"Do you want something?" Katniss asks weakly.

"You should hate yourself, you stupid witch," Ceal spat.

"Excuse me?" Katniss rose from the bench and faced her.

"You heard me; how dare you run him out of town." Ceal hissed.

Oh boy. She was talking about Mellark. I could see the sorrow surfacing into Katniss' expression. The blonde bitch flipped her hand back and locked eyes with me for a second then turned back to Katniss and proceeded in making Katniss upset. Ceal was basically in her face and it was only a matter of time before Katniss would have lost it and pounded the girls perky little jaw in.

"You need to get out of my face now, Ceal," Katniss said coldly.

"Now, you need to hear what I have to say," Ceal said, rejecting Katniss.

"Um, I think we got a couple more stops before going home. You ready, Katniss?" Delly asked. She was trying to her hardest to steer Katniss away from the argument.

"Shut up, Delly. This skank needs to hear this." Ceal growled.

"If anyone is the skank here, it is you," I said, anger rising in my voice.

Ceal ignored me completely and continued to stare at Katniss hatefully. "Rumor has it that you ran Peeta out of town because he caught you sleeping with miner man over there." She said, referring to me.

Miner man? Was that my lame nickname? God, I wanted to punch this witch. "I heard he got you pregnant, too. You are looking a little fat"

"You need to shut the f..." I started, but Delly moved and slapped her hand over my mouth for the second time today.

"Language," She whispered.

"You know nothing about why Peeta left!" Katniss raised her head and stared Ceal in the eyes. They were full of rage and sorrow. If this witch kept talking about Mellark any longer, Katniss was going to pound the hell out of her and I was going to let her. Delly was just about to grab Katniss' arm and pull her away from Ceal, but I decided to stop her and wrap my hands around her waist, pulling her back an inch.

"I want to see Ceal get beat up," I whisper into her ear.

She shot me a dirty look and wiggled out of my grip. However, she didn't make another attempt to pull Katniss away. Instead, she took a seat on the bench and watched the two women continue to bicker. Eventually, that bickering would lead to a fight.

"Wow, I guess you are a little skank bag," Ceal continued.

Katniss was silent.

"Not even denying it."

Keep talking girl.

"I knew you were no good for Peeta."

Five.

"That's probably why he left; because you're not enough of a woman for him."

Four.

"You're a big skank. You'll probably spread to everyone."

Three.

"Nobody likes you."

Two.

"I would be the better women for Peeta."

One.

Katniss lunged towards Ceal and grabs a handful of her blonde hair. She squeaks like a little mouse and makes a failed attempt in punching Katniss in the face, but Katniss already has the fake Barbie on the ground. Katniss rips out the ponytail Ceal was wearing and toss it to the ground. She punches Ceal in the mouth multiple times, but blood has yet to spill from her mouth. Ceal is on the ground wailing, begging her friends to help her out. One actually does move forward and attempts to grab Katniss by her poorly done braid, but Katniss thrusts her left foot sideways and kicks the dark-haired girl in the shin. Katniss was now straddling Ceal pounding her face left and right.

I glanced over my shoulder and meet Delly's gaze. She gave me a pleading look saying 'separate them', but I wasn't going to separate them just yet. I would wait for the blood to start following, then I would pull Katniss off of her. Something about seeing Katniss straddle this girl, pounding her face in left and right, seemed to turn me on in a small way.

People were gathering around to watch Katniss pound the crap out of Mellark's worker. Once blood did start to run out of her mouth, I decided it was time for me to yank Katniss off of her. I grabbed Katniss under her arms a hauled her off the scared, shaking girl. Once Katniss was off of her, Ceal scurried to her feet and hid behind her friends.

"Someone get the police!" She shouted, "This woman assaulted me!"

Nobody had to get hold of the police because they were on the scene before we even had the chance to bolt from the square. The police led Katniss, Delly, Ceal, her friends and I to the station that used to be the justice building. They had us all sit in a white room that had a large table in the middle of the room and a bunch of wooden chairs. Ceal and her friends sat at one end of the table while Katniss, Delly and I sat at the other. There was a deep discussion amongst the girls down at the end of the table. The door to the room finally opened after about twenty minutes of waiting. A man dressed in blue uniform came strolling in with his hands tucked behind him back and his nose slightly cocked up in the air.

"Alright, ladies, what happened?" He asked.

"She attacked me!" Ceal blurted out, not giving Katniss a chance to defend herself.

"She provoked me," Katniss said, defensively.

"I did not. I was minding my own business and she came hurling across the street and hurt me," She was trying to act emotionally scarred to get out of trouble. The sad thing was that it was working. Ceal was trying to act hurt, and I can't believe this moron was buying into her little mind games. Was he that stupid? I guess I will never understand what goes through a person in uniforms head.

"Miss. Everdeen did you assault Miss Sana?" The man questioned.

"I sure did," Katniss replied honestly.

"What possessed you to do such a thing?"

"Like I told you, honestly sir, Miss. Sana...provoked me, got into my face and showered me with rude comments."

"Can you two verify?" He asks Delly and I.

"Yes sir, Ceal provoked her" Delly and I say at the same time. Delly and I look at each other. We just practically stole the words right out of each other's mouths. That was a bit odd. We thought the same thing.

"Did not." Ceal defended herself, "I was walking down the street right girls?" They all nodded their heads and covered for their friend.

The officer cleared his throat. "Well, Miss. Everdeen, I'm afraid a fine is in order."

"What! No jail time!" Ceal yelled out.

"Jail time would be the proper punishment, but this is Miss. Everdeen's first warning so I'll go easy on her. As for you, Miss. Sana, this is your tenth warning and I am really getting sick and tired of seeing you in here every day." With that said, he led Katniss out of the white room to pay the fine. Ceal hung back in the room and talked to her friends non-stop about how unfair this was. How Katniss deserved to be locked away because she was mentally retarded.

Delly and I left the room as well and was in the process of going down the steps when she stopped me in my tracks by grabbing hold of my large hand. For some reason, she threaded her fingers with mine. My knees became weak, my breath started to speed up. Delly stood on her tiptoes and attempted to place her lips by my ears.

"Jinxs, you owe me a soda," She giggled, as she let go of my hand and gently flitted down the long hallway and then down the steps. I felt my face turn red as I watched her vanish from my sight. My hands tingled from having her small hand locked with my large one. Why in the world did she do that? Was she trying to play games with me or was she just trying to be friendly. Whatever the reason was, I pushed it aside and made my way down to the steps and met Katniss and Delly just outside the building. I moved over to where Katniss was standing, eyes locked on the bakery that stood in the distance.

"I'm proud of you, Catnip. You slapped a bitch," I said it loud enough so Ceal and her friends could hear it. They were in the process of walking out the front door and down the steps. Ceal strutted her stuff as she walked past us. "Look out District 12 we got a new breed of hookers on the way."

Ceal stopped in her tracks, placed a hand on her hip, "How's mommy Hawthorne?" Oh my god, I was going to kill her. I took a step forward making her flinch. Katniss pulled me back next to her before I could go towards Ceal again.

"Women beater? Hmm just like Daddy, huh?" She flipped her hair back over her shoulder and started down the steps. I took my eyes off her for one second and in that second, something happened and the next thing I know she is flying down the stairs whimpering, crying and accusing Delly of pushing her. She started shouting for police and that was when the three of us bolted down the stairs and as far away from the police station as possible. We were a good ten minutes away from the Victor's Village. I was walking in between Katniss and Delly. The three of us were chatting and making fun of Ceal the whole way home. A couple times, I caught Delly looking at me. How I hoped to God she wasn't going to start crushing on me. She was cute and all, but my heart belonged to Katniss at the moment and I didn't know if I ever was going to get over her. I wasn't into the whole relationship thing. We continued to chat and talk about the events that happened today. I could have sworn I saw Katniss crack a smile. That was good; it meant she was improving.

When we made it back to the Victor's Village, Katniss took off her shoes and set them in the corner. She, then, crossed the living room floor and curled up in a ball on the couch. That fight must have worn her out because she went right to sleep on the couch. Delly and I sat at the kitchen table. We heated up the vegetable stew and filled our stomach. I decided to let Katniss sleep for a bit, then I would make her eat.

"Some day we had today, huh?" Delly broke the silence between us. The way she is looking at me is starting to make me feel a tad bit uncomfortable. I shift in my seat and Delly looks at me like she has done something wrong. "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be alright?" I ask her.

"Because you're fidgeting" She points out.

I was unaware that I was doing such a thing until I looked down at my hands. I pulled them apart and took a bite of vegetable stew.

"Something wrong, Gale?" She asks again.

"No," I mutter.

She definitely had the hots for me, or so it would seem.

"Are you sure?" She inquired.

She was scooting closer to me and I could no longer keep my cool. "Do you have a thing for me?" I blurted out.

"What do you mean like a crush?"

"Yes."

"I like you Gale. You're nice, but I don't know you well enough to actually like you like that." She says.

I am relieved to hear that. Delly was a really nice girl and all, but I just couldn't see myself being with anyone but Katniss. That wasn't going to happen though.

The loud ringing of the phone brought me out of my seat. I hurried to grab it before it woke Katniss up.

"Hello." I answer lazily.

"Gale?"

"Mellark?"

As soon as I say his name Delly bolts from her chair and stands next to me. It's obvious she wants to talk to him to.

"Why are you calling, Mellark?" I spit out. I am very angry with him for everything he has put Katniss through. She has been crying for days because of him and if I could, I would reach through this phone and grab him at the other end.

"I wanted to check on Katniss," He said.

"Well, she's been crying a lot. Her nightmares are back and we just now got her out of the house. She got into a fight." I say and Mellark gasp.

"She what?!"

"She beat the hell out of some blonde chick name Ceal." I tell him.

"My co-worker?" He asks, shocked.

"Obviously she had it coming. She provoked the shit out of Katniss. She said it was all her fault that you left town."

Mellark sighed heavily, "Remind me to fire her."

"Yeah, whatever. Do you want to talk to Katniss or not?"

"I don't think I should."

"Why the hell not?"

"If she heard from me, it will bring her to tears."

"She is in tears because she is not hearing from you."

Mellark and I spent a couple of minutes arguing with each other, it wasn't until Delly cleared her throat and nodded towards the doorway did I tell Mellark to hold on. I glance over my shoulder and Katniss is standing there, with nothing but tears of joy in her gray eyes. I didn't even know she was standing there and neither did Delly. Neither of us knew how long she had been standing there in the doorway. She must have heard every word I was saying to her lover because she bolted to my side and begged me to hand her the phone and I had no choice. Damn. I wish the ringing of the phone hadn't woke her up.

"Peeta!" She says happily in the mouth of the phone. Tears of joy run downs her face and I could hear her telling him how much she loves him and how much she needs him to come home. Delly leads me out of the kitchen to give Katniss some privacy. I take a seat on the couch and she sits down beside me.

"How does he sound?" Delly asks me.

"Mellark sounds like Mellark," I tell her, plainly.

Delly sighs, "Can't you call him Peeta, please?"

"Nope. I have no respect for him."

"Why, because he cares about Katniss and that was why he left her?"

"Something like that."

Delly rolls her eyes. "You're not very nice sometimes, you know that?"

"I know. I can be a prick."

"Obviously."

"That's why you should never ever have a crush on me."

"No worries there. I don't go for tools."

I raised my eyebrow at her, "What? Tool? Baby, I am far from a tool."

Delly chuckles without humor, "Are you sure about that?"

"Pretty sure," I grin deviously.

"Besides, I don't understand why you think I would go for a guy like you." She said.

"Because I am handsome, strong and can take care of a woman like you if I choose to."

"Don't make me groan in agony."

"Please! I'll make you sing in pleasure instead of...Well I could make you groan, too." I said. I stepped out of line because as soon as I said the words, her small hand came up and slapped me lightly on the cheek. She got up from the couch and stalked over to the sofa chair that was far to the left of me. She plopped down on it with her hands crossed over her chest and a scowl look on her face. Her cheeks were so red that it would make a fire truck jealous. I don't think I have never ever seen someone get that red before. I should apologize to her for my somewhat indication of doing the dirty deed with her, but decided to have my fun in watching her face turn red and watching the discomfort spread through her body. I winked at Delly before hopping off the couch and poking my head around the corner so I could look into the kitchen. Katniss was still on the phone with him. There were tears of sorrow in her eyes now and she kept begging him to allow her on a train. Multiple times, she told him she loved him and all I wanted to do was throw up my stew every time I heard the words spill from her mouth.

Why couldn't she shed tears for me like she did him? Why couldn't she tell me she loved me in a deep romantic way? Why did everything have to be about him? The jealousy increased the longer I stood there and listen to her cry to him, listen to her beg him to be there with him. Was being here with me that bad? Was being here with her friends and family not good enough for her? We could take care of her a hell of a lot better than he could. All he does is hurt and hurt her and I am sick of it.

I moved forward so I was in the kitchen. I walked across the room until I came to a stop at the phone base. I couldn't help it; I didn't want to see those gray eyes fill with tears any longer. As quickly I could, I tapped the base and terminated the call. Katniss yelled out and threw the phone on the ground, but not before pounding her fists against my chest and cursing at me.

"Why the hell did you do that, Gale?" She shouted, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm tired of seeing you cry over him." I spit back.

"He'll think that was me that hung up on him. God I HATE YOU!" She screams and hits me again and darts up the steps and out of my sight. I screwed up, I shouldn't have done that, but the tears that streamed from her eyes was too much to handle. Delly appeared in the doorway with her arms crossed and a frown written across her face.

"That was a jackass move!" She yells at me.

"Whatever," I hiss, "He was making her cry."

"It's none of your business what goes on between those two."

"Who asked you anyway, DELLY?" I take off out of the kitchen, slide my coat and boots on and slam the door open and then close. It was still very light outside and my siblings wouldn't get off of school for another twenty minutes. It was around 2:30. I took off towards the woods, set up snare traps and leaned against the base of a tree. Snowflakes began to fall from the heavens again. So much for our temporary spring. I dipped my hand in the inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out the brown paper bag. I popped open the white liquor and began gorging myself with the nasty liquid that would soon be my comfort. I shouldn't have hung up on Mellark and now Katniss was going to be extremely mad at me for at least a couple days. I deserved it.

To be continued...


	3. A City Of Tribute Memories

To Nimref09: Thank you for pointing out my embarrassing flaws. I can defiantly try and be more careful about what I write from now on. I do not really like it when people point out my mistakes. It usually tends to make me feel embarrassed, but hey, I will never get better if you don't, so I am always up for a little criticism but please do not be too harsh on me. As for depressed Katniss, if you do not like it then skip a couple chapters because she is going to be upset for a good while, but do not worry once she sets out for the capitol, I will have her plow right through everyone that stands in her way between her and Peeta. Anyway as for the rest of you, I am really glad you are enjoying this story and do not forget to leave me your thoughts and feelings, let's see if I can get double the number of reviews hahaha. One more thing; I told you I was a bit weak in the grammar department so if you really have a huge issue on bad grammar, do not read my stuff. I try to check things.

Chapter three

A City Of Tribute Memories

(Peeta's POV)

It took us a good couple of days to get to where we are; the Capitol. The place has not changed one little bit. The city was still flooded with tall buildings that seemed to go on for miles and miles. The people still dressed in their fancy attire, still painted their faces and covered them with glitter. Their bodies were covered with jewels and painted tattoos. I guess some traditions were not meant to die away. It took Haymitch, Effie and I about a week and a half to get here. It took that long because the train had made multiple stops in each district. People are always coming in and out of Panem. I almost forget there are other countries out there beside Panem. Other countries that may or may not be as vile and cruel as this one used to be. Earth is a huge place and it has billions of people. Chances are the cruelty of humanity lives on.

I was sitting on the large king sized bed staring at the cordless phone that lays limp in my hands. I should not have called here. It was a big mistake. I was lucky Gale had answered the phone and started talking with me. But why did he have to go and hand it to her? I was kind of trying to avoid talking to her because when she hears my voice, which would only make her cry. I wanted her to be strong and, dammit, she was going to be strong. Kat was the strongest person I knew, if anyone could get out of the deep depression, it was her.

I declined back on the large bed and stared up at the green colored ceiling. Thoughts of Kat filled my head and I stared wondering what she was doing at the moment. She was probably curled up in the ball. I hated the thought of her moping around the house, crying and refusing food. She had done this before when her sister, Prim, passed away. I managed to break her out of it then. I only hope Delly, Gale and her mother could help her.

I set the phone on the nightstand beside me and placed both my hands behind my head. I should probably try to sleep. Every since leaving Kat, I have not had a good night sleep. Our goodbye at the train station kept replying in my mind. I could not get over the fact that she had so much anger towards me for leaving her. Images of her sliding the ring off her finger and throwing it at me kept playing in my mind over and over again. I knew she only threw it at me because she was hurting. We both were hurting that day, her more than I, though.

I stared up at the ceiling for a long while, hoping sleep would overtake me. It didn't. I glanced over at the clock. It was well into the evening. Effie and Haymitch left a couple hours ago to set up an appointment with President Paylor. Boy, she was going to be shocked when she us here. We needed permission to go through the Capitol's old files, tapes and just about everything we can get our hands on. The Capitol (or should I say Snow), did a lot of secretive things, made weapons, made creatures that were used in the games and God knows what else they have done.

I gave up on trying to fall asleep and threw my legs over the side of the bed. I stretched my arms and legs and paced around the room. I wanted Effie and Haymitch to come back as soon as possible. I wanted this hunt to begin. The sooner it began the, sooner it would end and the sooner I would be able to go home to Katniss. I would be a clean man. I would not have to worry about killing her anymore. I wouldn't be plagued by these horrific images that have been altered. I paced around the room for a good couple of minutes before coming to a stop in front of the large window. The beautiful orange yellow sun was gently taking its time in hiding beneath the horizon. Soon, natures natural light will be gone and the big flashing man-made lights will take over and brighten the Capitol. I pulled the curtains close, not wanting to look at the city of memories below. A lot has happened here, things I wish to forget.

The door to the room clicks open and Haymitch stumbles in with Effie hot on his heels. His face is red and his lips are dipped down into a frown. It looked like he has been fighting and arguing with someone. Effie was wearing her usual pink attire and keeps straightening her wig.

"Well, what's the news?" I asked impatiently.

"The appointment is set to see her is for next Monday," Haymitch replied.

I groaned in anger, "Seriously, Haymitch, that is two days from now. I cannot wait that long!" My voice was slightly raised and I clutched my hands into fists. Two more damn days to wait. Two more damn days without Katniss.

"Why can't we just go through the documents on our own?"I suggested.

"The president has moved them to a building where they can be filed. Never to be seen again." Effie answered me.

"Well then let's go find it." I demanded.

Haymitch suddenly bursted, "Boy this is a waste of time and effort. You know damn well there is no cure for what you have. So why bother going through all this trouble just to be disappointed?!"

I could not believe Haymitch had said that. There he was, supporting me in every way possible throughout the whole entire time on the train and now he was blowing a gasket about coming here.

"Haymitch is a little temperamental at the moment," Effie said.

"You irritate me, that's why," He spat out at Effie.

I could have told you that: Effie Trinket irritates everyone.

I took a seat on the large bed and watched as Haymitch paced back and forth with his hands tucked behind his back, an angry look on his face. He kept mumbling something under his breath, things that sounds a lot like, 'Effie what do you know' or something like that.

"It's been a long day and you're exhausted. You need to sleep," I told Haymitch.

"I need a damn drink," Haymitch grumbled. "But I cannot have a drink because..." Effie cuts him off.

"Because little Miss perfect forced you to top," She hisses.

"Yes she is perfect, isn't she? And I will be glad to quit if it means it will make her happy." Haymitch responds.

"Oh she is not women enough for you. You deserve a lot better than some washed up woman from four."

"What?!" Haymitch hissed.

"Exactly what I said"

"She is a lot better than some fake Capitol bimbo!"

Ouch. I looked between the two of them. All I saw was nothing but anger in their eyes. I couldn't deal with their relationship problems right now. I had more important things to worry about than Effie and Haymitch screaming at one another.

I got off the bed and calmly walked over to the hotel room door. Haymitch and Effie didn't even realize my escape. I pulled the door open and find myself in a long hallway. The carpet is a blood red color and it stretches all down the narrow hallway. I began to walk. Haymitch and Effie's voice could have still been heard, but quickly vanished the further I get down the hallway. I had no idea where I am going as long as it's as far away from those two idiots as possible.

I should of gone by myself, but that would be impossible; there were certain things I needed Haymitch to do for me and that was talking to the president and getting information as to where Snow's documents where. He had the paperwork on all the mutations he has ever created. Where he kept them was a complete mystery to me, but I did know when he died they cleared out his office, banished all the peacekeepers (until recently a couple made another attempt.), destroyed the hunger games arena and killed all the mutts. I only hope there was still documentation the old Capitol wrote about tracker jacker wasps. Their deadly poison is what altered my memories; made me hate Kat. I hope and prayed there was some way to undo what has been done to me.

I walked out of the hotel building and into the crowded streets of the capitol. It is always busy, whether it is day or night. I shoved my hands into my pants pocket, kept my head down and walked down the streets into the unknown. I did not have a particular destination; I just wanted to get as far away from Haymitch and Effie as possible. I just wish those two would sort things out. Effie was jealous of Haymitch's girlfriend: Avara, and was doing everything in her power to try to break them up. Haymitch loved her though and I knew he was not going to leave the ginger from District 4. I personally liked Avara over Effie any day. She was kind of unique, very kind and very helpful during dark times. I passed a group of women. Their skin was a dark green color and they had glitter and it looked like expensive diamonds all over the place. I've always wondered why they dressed themselves like that. I guess the dye makes them look good or something.

As I made my way by the chatting women, they stopped their gossip and turned to me. One of them were practically undressing me with their eyes

"Hey there, baby." She grinned at me and broke away from her group to stand in my path. She had to be in about her mid-thirties, early forties somewhere around there, her eyes were a bronze color and her lips coated in dark green lipstick.

"Excuse me, miss, I have to get through," I mumble as politely as I could.

"Cute and polite. I like it," She said, ignoring my request.

"You virgin, baby?" One of her friends asked me.

"Oh look, he is shy." They grinned.

I said nothing and stared down the sidewalk again hoping this woman would move out of my way and I could continue my destination into the unknown. No such luck. She decided to place her hands on my shoulders and give the hair that was in my face a little ruff.

"We will make your first time good," She said in a seductive voice.

"Madam, I really need you to back off me and my first time was good!" I said through my clenched teeth.

"Come on, baby. Don't be like that. My girls and I will take care of you," She batted her eyelashes and seductively ran her hands down my arms.

"I have a fiancée," I blurted out and shrugged the woman's hand completely off me. She chuckled and ran a hand through her green hair.

"Does she know about us?" She questions.

"There is no 'us'. Now get the hell out of my way," I pushed passed her and her group and continued walking down the streets of the Capitol. Some things just never change around here. Five long years (or maybe six) without being in this place and it still has not changed.

I walked for a good half hour, passing a large diner, passing a clothing store. I stopped at the store and peered inside. It was a dress shop and inside were thousands of dresses. Capitol women sure did love their clothes because I read somewhere they would spend large amounts of money on these things.

I stared at the strait orange color, then the purple, blue, green, silver and there was one that had every single color you could possibly think of mixed into it.

I tore my gaze away from the clothes and crossed a cross-walk with my head down and my hands in my pockets. I wondered if it was safe to go back to the hotel room. I hoped Effie and Haymitch stopped screaming at one another. I just did not get it: why did Effie hate Avara so damn much? Maybe it was because she was in love with that old prune and maybe seeing Haymitch with Avara hurt her so much. I know it would hurt if Katniss chose Gale or over me. I don't think I would be able to bear it, but it would be her decision and I would not stand in the way or it. As long as she was happy and content with the choice, her happiness came first. I was not going to be like Gale and yell at her for falling in love with another man; if that was the case.

Overall, the Capitol was as boring as ever. They still were a bunch of rich snobs that dressed like aliens. I do not understand why someone would dye their skin a different color, it sickens me.

I walked to the end of the street before deciding to back track and head back to the hotel where Haymitch and Effie were probably still having their fight about Avara. However, something across the street caught my eye and, instead of going in the direction of the hotel, I went in the direction on the small tan building that was lodge tightly between two very large ones. There was a large sign going across the top of it that read: _Memorial Station_. What could that mean? I cautiously pushed open the tiny front door and made my way inside.

"Can I help you?" An older woman with a cane asked. She limped her way over to where I stood at the front door. I was completely amazed at how many books were stacked. It felt like I was in an overgrown library. This place was somewhat amazing. How could a small little building hold so many books, papers and files? The old woman stood there waiting for me to answer.

"I uh...What is this place?" I questioned.

She smiled and wobbled closer to me to get a better look. "This is a place where we can remember those who have fallen unfairly into the afterlife."

"Meaning….?"

"We have designed this place for fallen tributes. Their memory will never be forgotten. Their memories will live on through this information." She explained.

"I do not get it," I mumbled to myself.

She merely smiles, "Take a look around if you want. Peeta Mellark, Victor of the 74th Hunger Games."

My face redden, my palms leaked with sweat and my whole body just filled with this certain fear. I knew I should not be afraid of her or anything. She was an old woman for goodness sake, but there was something about her, about this place that put me on high alert.

She wobbled her way back over to the chair by the front desk and I did as she said and went through so many papers. Every single folder I went through had facts about every single tribute that had participated in the games. It went as far back as the 9th Hunger Games. Good things were written about most of them. These folders were meant to honor the deceased memory. I guess I understood what she was trying to say; if people missed a certain tribute, if they were close to a certain tribute and if they were family to the tribute; they could (if they chose) come to remember those who have fallen.

I pick up a vanilla colored folder and began reading it closely. I am not really knowledgeable with this tribute, but it is interesting to read about them.

_60th Hunger games._

_Tribute- Naca Nimra_

_Age: 16_

_Gender: Female_

_District 8_

_Fate: Deceased._

There were more in the folder about her interviews, what she was like and how many sponsors she had (which was not many at all). The picture hanging to the left of her information was very small, old and fragile looking. The girl had curly blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes, she was thin, tall and somewhat pretty attractive. It said she was kind to almost everyone and that she tried really hard to make allies, but nobody would alley with her because she was small and weak. They were right; she died during the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. She was speared by one Career. I set that one down and scooped up another one.

53rd Hunger Games.

_Tribute: Faith Marrco_

_Age: 17_

_Gender: Female._

_District 10_

_Fate: Deceased_

_Victor of the 53rd Hunger Games. Dies of old age._

I examined every inch of the room and began grabbing folders off the shelves. I wanted to find Katniss's folder. I don't know why, I just felt the need to look at it for some odd reason. It was hard to tell what folder was what. There had to be at least a thousand scattered all over the room. They were all dusty, too, so that probably means nobody from the Capitol streets took the time to look up any tribute. Why would they take the time to remember anyone? They are too busy wrapped up in there glittered-skin lives to worry about anything. Besides, these people died for their enjoyment.

I grabbed a whole handful from a small shelf and carried them over to a small round table that sat in the corner of the room. The old women vanished from my sight which kind of made me nervous. I set the folders down on the wooden table-top and took a seat in the chair. I grabbed one of them and flipped it open.

_66th Hunger Games._

_Tribute: Digor Martain_

_Age 16_

_District 3_

_Fate:_Deceased_._

_Victor of the 66th hunger games._

_Digor Martin won the 66th hunger games. From the beginning, nobody thought Mr. Martain would be strong enough to win such honorable tournament. Mr. Digor and his District partner were the last ones to make it to the finals. Mr. Martain and his District partner had a long and tiring battle that had lasted hours. Finally after two hours of fighting for their lives, Martain's district partner gave into fatigue and that was when Martain took out her eyes with his bare hands. He was later announced winner as he choked the life out of District partner with his hands. The world loved Mr. Martain and cheered when President Coriolanus Snow crowned him victor. A couple days later, the world was brought to tears when they found Mr. Martins hanging in a closet with a rope around his neck and a paper pinned to the front of his shirt stating that 'Death is better than guilt, nightmares and Panem'._

I flipped about four of the folders open and glanced at each one taking the time in reading them starting with the first one.

_67 Hunger Games._

_Tribute: Riley Wary_

_Age: 17_

_District 2_

_Fate: Deceased_

_Took second place in the 67th annual Hunger Games._

I picked up another one and flipped open the folder. I nearly choked when I caught sight of the name:

_74th Hunger Games._

_Tribute: Cato Gravelnear_

_Age: 16_

_District 2_

_Fate: Deceased._

My heart was beating a million miles per hour as images came flooding back into my mind. His screams are what haunted me for so long. I could hear the horrible flesh of his body being ripped to shreds as those mutts devoured him and left him for dead.

I traced my fingers over his pictures before I pushed that one aside not wanting to read it, not wanting to remember that horrible, but yet determined, young man that was Cato. I could still see the hatred in his eyes as he came towards me with his sword swinging. I had lost my leg because of him, because I had to let Katniss go. Before I picked up the next, the old woman was back in the room carrying a cup of hot chocolate. She set a cup in front of me and gave me a warm smile.

"Thanks," I smiled back at her.

"Find anything interesting?" She asks.

I shake my head. "No madam. Am I supposed to find something interesting?"

"I guess not, but I think you will find this Tribute interesting everyone else does." She lays a folder on the table and pushes it towards me. I grabbed hold of the folder and flipped it opened.

_33rd Hunger Games._

_Tribute: Titus Sims._

_Age: 15_

_Gender: Male._

_District 6_

_Fate: Deceased._

Now this one I had to read, but before I did, I examined the picture on the corner of the folder like I did the other one. This boy had dark hair, his smile was so wicked and so devious that it sent shivers down my spine. Just looking at him made my skin crawl. I swear his eyes could have been a light color of red, but they weren't, they were brown. I flipped through the folders, there was at least 12 pages explaining his life. I silently read it to myself.

_Titus Sims Age 15 has the honor of participating in the 33rd annual Hunger Games. 'Mr. Sims is the youngest Tribute participating in the games and possibly has very little chances of winning', says a source. Mr. Sims stylists says although he may be the youngest, he might be the smallest and thinnest, but he is the quickest, so do not count him out of the games just yet. Titus Sims has scored a two during the personal meetings with the Gamemakers. Something he did was wrong and the Gamemakers did not like it one bit. There was something not right with Mr. Sims. You could tell just by looking at him. It was not something with his brain because Mr. Sims was incredibly smart for a boy of 15. He had a loving mother, father, four brothers and one sister back in district 6 waiting for him. While in the arena, Mr. Sims shyly hid from his competitors. Small and weak was what the people in the Capitol had thought about him. About a couple hours after the bloodbath at the Cornucopia, Mr. Sims made sure the area was safe and secure and proceeded through the sea of bodies. The people watching were unsure of what he was doing as he kneeled down next to multiple tributes and licked their eyes and took his time in smelling the dead flesh._

_Sims would rip away the dead tributes suit until they were bare naked and then he would start rubbing his dirty hands over their eyes. The viewers nearly died when Titus started digging out dead tributes eyes and popping them into his mouth. Once all the eyes were devoured, Sims would start ripping and tearing at the flesh on the neck, nose, cheeks and just about anywhere he could get to. He would almost have eaten the entire face by the time the hovercraft would arrive. His behavior in the arena was unknown, nobody could explain his thoughts and feelings. Soon, Gamemakers had to start stop him in order to collect the dead tributes and not to make things worse for the viewers, Mr. Sims killed one female tribute with his bare hands and as soon as the cannon went off, he bolted for the wintery forest with her body tossed over her shoulder. He ate her face, ripped her chest open with his hands and a twig and ate her heart. That was the last straw a couple days later her died in a avalanche created by the makers. The capitol had to make sure the victor was not a lunatic._

I snapped the folder shut and tossed it aside. That was one disturbed boy. I had goose bumps all over my arms now. I was so thankful Titus Sims did not participate in Katniss and I's hunger games. Who knows what he would have done. I rose from my sitting position on the floor and kick away the stacks of folders.

"Disturbing isn't he?" The old lady asked.

I nodded in agreement.

"Would you like help finding a tribute?" She asks.

"Katniss Everdeen," I said.

The women smiled, nodded her head and vanished behind the shelves. I drummed my fingers against the table-top. Patience was not on my side today. I took back my seat on the chair and opened the three folders that were laying there that I had not looked at.

_9th Hunger Games._

_Tribute: Maggie Dover._

_Age: 16_

_Gender: Female_

_District 4_

_Fate Deceased._

_Victor of the 9th Hunger Games. Dies in the 75th at the age of 80._

Mags. The women who saved my life by giving hers. I stared at her picture for a long moment. She was so beautiful back then. Light brown curly hair, bronze skin, gentle eyes. I would be dead right now if it was not for this woman. She ran into the poison fog so Finnick could carry me. She gave her life for me, gave her life because I was not strong enough to take care of myself. Dear sweet Mags.

The old women came back with a large stack of files. I only said Katniss.

"Your tributes," she smiled and set them down on the table.

"I said only Katniss." I muttered.

"She is there somewhere," She said and wobbled out of my sight again.

I picked up the first one and began reading.

_74th Hunger Games._

_Tribute: Glimmer Giez_

_Age: 17_

_Gender: Female_

_District 1_

_Fate: Deceased._

I opened three of them and peered down at each and everyone one.

_74th Hunger Games._

_Tribute : Foxface Spart_

_Age: 17_

_Gender: Female_

_District: 5_

_Fate: Deceased._

I remember I killed her. She ate the berries that I collected. I gingerly touched her picture lightly and mumbled 'sorry' under my breath. It really was an accident and I have felt badly about it for a long time. That and I killed the girl by the fire the first night in the arena. District 8 female.

I dug through the stacks until I found her and flipped it opened.

_74th Hunger games._

_Tribute: Jona Larsen_

_Age: 15_

_Gender: Female._

_District 8._

_Fate: Deceased._

I pull one from the middle.

_74th Hunger games_

_Tribute: Clove Cashwater_

_Age: 17_

_Gender: Female_

_District 2_

_Fate: Deceased._

The next one I opened was my own and then the one after that was Katniss Everdeen.

_74th Hunger Games._

_Tribute: Katniss Everdeen_

_Age: 16_

_Gender: Female._

_District 12_

_Fate: Alive._

_Victor of 74th Hunger Games along with Peeta Mellark._

I do not know why I wanted it, something told me it should not be here in this place. I calmly glanced around the room, hoping the old lady was distracted somewhere. When I found no sign of her, I slipped the folder into my jacket and quickly rose from my seat. I was headed for the door when the old lady blocked my view. She smiled, leaned on her cane with both her hands folded gently on it. Sweat dripped from my forehead as she approached me and placed a hand on my shoulders. If she found out I took Katniss's file, what was she going to do to me? This older women could have me arrested for thievery.

"Are you thorough Mr. Mellark?" She questioned.

I nodded. "Yes I uh got to go."

I took a step passed her and that was when she grabbed hold of my hand tightly. She was strong for a woman. I tried pulling my hand away from her grip but that only made her hold on tighter. Her face did not have a threatening look on it; it was more of a warning expression. She placed her free hand against my cheek and stroked.

"They'll come back you know; the tributes. Whispers of a fake death. You need to do something."

"Sorry, madam, you're not making sense." I shrugged out of her grip finally. My heart was pounding, sweat poured from my forehead. I made my way quickly towards the door. I had to get out of here.

"He smiled widely when died. Did he not?"

I really had to get out of here.

"There is no help for you or the Mockingjay." She called after me.

I stopped in my tracks and faced her, brows knitted, fists clutched. "Who are you?"

"Just a lonely old woman with time on her hands"

"What do you know about Katniss?" I set my jaw and stared at the old woman hard. Was she threatening Katniss and me? What did she mean by 'there was no hope for us'?

I slowly approached her, anger in my eyes. I was going to end her if she dares threatened Katniss.

"I know a lot about the victors and tributes," She smiled.

"Katniss? What about her?" I shouted.

"Death will come to her unless something is done."

"Don't you dare threaten her." I warned.

"I am a messenger, a warning."

"Why do I need a warning?"

"He faked it and hid so nobody would hurt him. He can't move anymore. So vulnerable" she said.

"What are you talking about?"

She did not answer just smiled.

I did not trust her not one little bit and if she was not an old woman, I would have had her up against the room wall, beating information out of her, but I was not the violent type of man, only when my venom overtook my mind.

I took a moment to examine this woman more closely. She had a limp to her leg; it was almost like she had broken it and it never healed properly. Her hair was a mixture between gray and brown, her eyes were a brown color and she did not have too many wrinkles. Of course, she did not have wrinkles; she lived in the Capitol.

"Who are you? What is your name?" I asked in a more stern voice.

"Mumy." She responded.

I was silent.

"Leave now, Peeta Mellark. You're not welcome here." She slid her hand into my coat pocket and yanked out Katniss' file, "Stealing is punishable in the house of tributes"

Before I had time to react, she wipes the knife out her pocket and slices me across the cheek with it. The fire immediately flared up in my cheek and blood started to flow thick and fast. Before she could slice me again, I kicked at her cane making her fall to the ground hard, scooped up Katniss's file and bolted for the door. There was no way I was going back there. I pumped my legs as fast as they could go and found myself on the opposite side of the streets of that place. I fingered the smooth texture of the folder and made my way back to the hotel where Haymitch was sitting there with a very small glass of liquor sitting in a cup. He jumped a bit once I entered the room.

"Where the devils have you been boy? And what happened to you cheek?" He questioned me.

Getting nailed by an old lady, I did not say that out loud. He looked at the folder I have stolen from the tribute archives and then shakes his head as if he does not want to know what I have been up to for the pass three hours.

"Where is Effie?" I asked quietly.

Haymitch snorted. "Dead I hope"

I slapped him upside his head for that one. I knew he did not mean that, he was just pissed at the moment. "Stop it"

"That woman is hell on earth." He defended himself.

"Quit it," I scolded.

"No. She is forcing me into a love triangle." Haymitch said with a frown. So I guessed it was true that Haymitch had feelings for both Effie and Avara, but the real question was: which one was he going to choose? As long as he is happy, I did not care who he was with.

I kicked off my shoes and made my way over to the large bed. The cordless phone was sitting on the nightstand beside me and I began to wonder if it was a good idea if I should try to call Katniss again. No I should just leave her alone tonight. I looked over at Haymitch-who was still staring at the small amount of alcohol that was in his cup.

"Are you going to stare at it or drink it?" I asked him with a chuckle.

"If I drink it, Effie wins." He said back to me.

"Huh?"

"Nothing boy; nothing. Go to bed. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"I just do not get you sometimes." I said and leaned back against the bed so my head hit the soft pillows. It has been a long and stressful couple of hours. I slid Katniss' folder out of my coat pocket and under my pillow. I unzipped my jacket and let it fall to the ground. The old woman's word bounced around in my head and no matter how hard I try I could not get her words _'There is no help for you or the Mockingjay'__'Death__will come to her unless something is done'_What the hell was going on? Was Katniss' life in danger? If so, I was stupid in leaving her alone in District 12. No. I did not have to worry because Gale would protect her from anything and if someone did try to kill her, I would personally rip them to shreds and that is a promise.

I had a hard time falling asleep because Katniss was not here next to me. After about an hour of trying to sleep, I gave up and sat upright in bed. Haymitch had fallen asleep in the chair while staring at the glass of untouched liquor and Effie was still not back to wherever she stormed off too.

I pulled Katniss's file from behind my pillow and stared at her picture. I placed my hand against her pictures lips, trying to remember what it felt like to have them lips pressed against my own. The guilt washed back into me like a ton of bricks and all I could see is her flying down the stairs, her crying her eyes out at the train station, her throwing her ring at me like it did not mean anything to her. I caused her pain and only pain. Maybe this was where I belonged: the Capitol. Maybe I did not deserve to go back to District 12 and be happy with her. I was in fact a murderer after all and murderers do not get happy endings; just asked President Snow.

I turned my attention back to Katniss's file and read:

_74th Hunger Games._

_Tribute: Katniss Everdeen_

_Age: 16_

_Gender: Female_

_District 12_

_Fate: Alive_

Victor of the 74th Hunger Games along with Peeta Mellark, Miss. Everdeen won the _hearts of many when she courageously stepped up to the plate and volunteered to take her sister Prim (Age 12) place in the annual Hunger Games. We watched Miss. Everdeen closely and became very attached to her and her lover, Peeta Mellark. The star crossed-lovers put on a wonderful performance that brought many sponsors begging to see more of them. It tore many to pieces when it was time for Miss. Everdeen and Mr. Mellark to enter the arena. The chances of them killing one another were great. Miss Everdeen, District Partner and lover, Mr. Mellark, and District 2, Cato Gravelnear, were the last three left in the 74th Hunger Games. Cato Gravelnear tragically fell off the Cornucopia and died instantly leaving Miss. Everdeen and Mr. Mellark in the top 2. The whole world held their breath and waited for these two lovers to kill each other. To turn on one another like so many other couples have done before._

_It never came. The two District 12 partners were so much in love that they had threatened to take their own life to prevent from killing the other. Nightlock berries were presented and as the whole world cried and waited for the end. The victors were announced and the partners were allowed to live. Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen were then thrown into a Quarter Quell a year later and escaped from the arena. Whereabouts of their location it still unknown_

I chuckled at the last sentence and slid the folder back underneath my pillow. I wondered who wrote everything down in these folders. How they knew the tributes so well. I was really curious and wanted to go back into that building, but knowing that older lady, she would probably come at me with a butcher knife this time. I wondered if she called the police on me for stealing Katniss' folder. I kind of felt bad for taking it and probably should return it. I do not even know why I took it. I just felt the need to have it; even though it was not mine. Oh...What was I am thinking? It's not mine...I really do have to take it back to her, but just something about Katniss' name and personal information being in this folder amongst so many others who have played the games and either won or lost, it really irritated me.

I rested my body against the bed and eventually fell into a deep sleep full of nightmares. They were mostly about the tributes I have read about in that building/library...whatever it was. I saw the red hair of Foxface Spart as she in gulped down the poisonous berries I had picked for myself. I saw the grinning face of Cato as he stared down at me with his sword at the ready. I saw Mags. I saw the District 8 girl, Joan. I saw Glimmer and even that weird tribute, Titus from the 33rd Games. He freaked me out most of all. I could not begin to imagine being stuck in an arena with him. To watch him devour his victims starting with the eyes, down to the neck and face and eventually the tributes heart if they allowed him. He ate about 9 of them, most of them were from the bloodbath at the Cornucopia, but there were a few he strangled with his bare hands and ate. They had to start stunning him in order to collect the dead tributes and it was later discovered his death was planned in an avalanche; the gamemakers did it so the victor was not mentally insane. I did not want to think about him ever again.

I snapped my eyes open, bright sunlight seeped through the curtains and brightened the room. I could see tiny specks of dust floating in the sunlight. Haymitch was asleep on the chair with his head down on the table and the liquor untouched. Effie was still nowhere to be found and it was early in the day, but I was too nervous to sleep because this was the day where I had to go and talk to president Paylor with Haymitch and Effie by my side. Today was the day I had to ask her for permission to go into the Capitol's abandon files on the mutations and seek information on this disease in my head. The worse she could do was say no, right? There was no waiting another day I was going no matter what.

To be Continued...


	4. Revenge

Sorry its taking me a little longer to update chapters than usual. I have been working 6 days strait at work so I am pretty tired. Besides you guys are patient people and you know I will not abandon this story so no worries about late updates hehe. Oh yes and unknown Reviewer aka Anon. I'm going to have to say no to the marriage proposal, my boyfriend would not like that too much hehe. Thanks for the tempting offer tho. Please read and review this chapter guys :). Ps Chapters are probably going to be shorter from now on I just don't really enjoy them long winded chaps. hehe.

Chapter 4 Revenge

(Katniss's POV)

The snow did not stay gone for long, about a day after Gale forced me to go hunting; it started to pound District 12 with such force. The temperature had dropped drastically it had to be at least 20 degrees outside. The weather pattern was a strange one, one minute it was warm enough to go hunting and the next it wasn't even warm enough to step foot outside without the threat of getting frostbite on your limbs. The cold did not matter to me, I liked curling myself up in a large blanket and sitting next to the fire. It was something I would do so often, it helped clear my head of things and I liked watching the flames burst with color. It's been about a day since Peeta had called me from the capitol. He says everything is alright, that he is doing perfectly fine, but I can tell by the way he speaks to me that he is having a hard time in being away from me. He would not have to be away from me for very long because my mind was made up, I was going to leave District 12 and arrive in the capitol to search for him. I could not stand this distance anymore and wanted to put an end to it. It may have only been a couple weeks of being apart, but it felt like a lifetime.

I knew when I arrived in the Capitol and found him, he was going to be extremely angry with me for tracking him down like this when he selflessly left District 12 for my own safety. I wonder if he even found a cure yet, Has he even started looking for one? If he already found one by the time I got there then it would not be much of big deal that I had hunt him down and forced to be reunited with him. He was going to be pissed either way, but I did not give a damn. All I cared about was seeing him, being near him again and touching him after three weeks of being abandoned. I was going to catch that train that would be leaving in a couple days. I was going to get back the man I love and force him to see reason. We were going to do this together, We started this journey together and Dammit we were going to finish it together. Peeta was not going to keep me in the dark.

My front door opened suddenly and Gale came in looking like he had just been through avalanche. Snow covered his entire jacket, there were flakes covering his pants and boots. He was shivering like crazy and letting the cold air drift into my house. I did not say two words to him. I was still completely pissed at him for hanging up on Peeta when he called to talk to me. I really wanted to punch him in the face for doing something horrible like that. He had said he only did it because I was crying and he could not stand to see me cry anymore. I had told him I hated him and that was the last thing I said to him, have not talked to him since.

Gale finally shut the door behind him, kicked his boots on the mat so the snow was fall into a pool of water at his feet, he shredded his jacket and approached the fireplace. I sat there wrapped in a blanket staring into the flames, not saying one word to him. His did not deserve to be noticed. Gale warmed his hands and took a seat on the couch next to me, I could feel his eyes bore into the side of my head.

"Still not talking to me?" He asks in a sigh.

I was silent.

"Come on Catnips I said I was sorry" Gale frowned.

Silence.

"You can't keep ignoring me forever" He says.

Yes I can and I will continue to ignore him until I am not mad at him anymore. Gale let out a deep and irritated sigh and folded his arms across his chest and pouted. We sat in silence until my front door opened again and a very cold looking Delly came in rubbing her hands together.

"Hey Del" I greeted warmly. I knew Gale shot me a glare, but I ignored it and smiled warmly at Delly.

"Oh Katniss it is freezing out there" She shut the door behind her and patted her boots like Gale had done earlier. She shredded her jacket and plopped down on the sofa chair next to the warm fire.

"So you'll talk to her but not me" Gale spat.

"You are rude Gale" Delly stole the words right of out my mouth.

"I was trying to help, he was making her cry and I hate it" Gale defended himself.

"It's none of your business" I suddenly spit out at him.

"Excuse me for trying to be a good friend" He frowns.

"Your such a pain in the ass" Delly says sticking up for me.

"You asked you" Gale snapped.

"I did" I say.

"Ugh you two are unbelievable"

Delly and I ganged up on Gale for a good twenty minutes before he decided to throw his hands up in defeat and stalk into the kitchen with his head down and his hands in his jean pockets. He gave up trying to defend himself and accepted defeat. I hear Gale rummaging through cups and plates, probably looking for something to pour leftover stew in. Oh how I wish Gale and Delly would leave me alone today, that way I could get prepared for my long and tiring journey to the capitol. I had to find out when the next train would depart, I had to buy a ticket, pack a bunch of my things and I had to do all of this without anyone knowing about it. How the hell was I going to do that, but I was going to find a way past all the obstacles.

It was way late in the afternoon when the snow finally decided to subside. I would have to wait till dusk to make my way over to the train station and find out when the next train left for the capitol. I had to do it as slyly as possible, I did not want to seem like I was up to something because then Gale or Delly would suspect something was up and follow me into town. No, I had to think up an excuse to go outside and I had to think it up fast. I could still hear Gale rummaging in the kitchen looking for something to eat, Delly was chatting with me, but I was not really paying any attention. I just kept nodding.

"Are you alright?" Delly asks.

"Yes" I lied. Truth was I really wanted to venture out into the winter wonderland, make my way to the train station and look up schedules and prices of tickets. I was leaving and there was no stopping me, Peeta and I had to face this demon together. I was going to have to deal with that fact that Peeta was going to beyond mad at me for making an effort to help him with his hijacking. I lifted my body off the comfortable couch and stalked off towards the door to slid on my boots.

"Where do you think your going" Gale asked me from the kitchen door.

"Going to see my mother and hopefully bring her lunch" I lied. Well maybe it wasn't such a lie, I should bring her lunch after checking the train schedule and buying my ticket.

"I'll come with you" Gale offered.

"NO! I...uh... mean...no thank you I kind of wanted to talk with my mother in private. Apologize to her for being so brutal and mean" Peeta's ability to lie and talk too much must be rubbing off on me because both Gale and Delly bought it and neither of them tried to go with me or anything. I slipped on my boots, my fathers jacket, stalked off into the kitchen to fill some of that stew in a plastic container. Delly and Gale were whispering to each other in the living room while glancing over their shoulders to look at me. I was not stupid I knew they were talking about me, trying to debate if I should go off on my own. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, what is the worse that could possibly happen.

"Please be careful Catnip and don't do anything reckless" Gale warns me.

I flash a fake smile in his direction, "Come on Gale I'll be fine"

"I think we should go with her" Delly whispers in his direction. She did not intend for me to hear it, but I had ears like a hawk and for some reason her words angered me and made me snap unintentionally.

"Damn Del I am not going to do anything reckless!"

She was taken back by my sudden outburst in anger and apologized, "I'm sorry Katniss, I am just looking out for you"

"Well don't I can function just fi...fine without...Peeta" I knew I couldn't. I bit my lip to hold back tears; if I let them start to flow chances are they would not allow me to venture through the snowy landscape that was 12 and then I would have to put off checking the train schedule, booking my train and buying a ticket. Thinking about Peeta just brought tears to my eyes. I wanted so badly to kiss him, I wanted so badly to see him. God I needed him so much.

I tucked the plastic container of soup under my arm and walked towards the front door. I should probably make it look good and go see my mother first, give her this leftover stew. She has been working in the hospital for a least a day now which was incredibly unbelievable. It seems like they have been working her like a dog, but I guess that is the price someone has to pay, working in medicine was no easy task. There was a price to pay and that price was always having to work. There were always people in need of treatment. I pulled open the front door and immediately the cold sent shivers down my spine. I wish it was warm outside. I was sick and tired of this chilly winter season. At least yesterday was warm and nice out, today is just plain miserable. I glanced over at Delly and Gale-who were sitting on the couch chatting with each other. They seemed distracted and convinced that I was alright in handling a little trip to the hospital. Too bad that was not where I was going.

The snow was deep, it came up to my knees, But I stomped through it, determination spreading through my body. It was hard to walk through the snow that covered the sidewalk, but I managed to do it and as soon as I came up to the large white building that was the newly built hospital, my body suddenly filled with sorrow. The last time I was here was when I had miscarried My baby. I entered the hospital through the double doors and peered around the abandon waiting room. The reception at the front desk gave me a small smile. I approached her and set the stew on the desk.

"Can you give this Lyan Everdeen?" I asked quietly.

"Sure can, you her daughter?" She questions.

"Yup" I reply.

"Then I am sure she will be glad to have this good looking stew" The nurse scoops up the container and stalks off into the back somewhere. I did not want to stay any longer, so as soon as the nurse was out of my sight I made my way to the door and back out into the freezing cold evening. The sun was well on it's way in setting over the horizon, if I wanted to make it to the train station for info I had better hurry. It took me longer to get to the station, just because the snow was so deep, but when I finally got to that part of town walking became much easier. You could see the ground, someone had actually shoveled the roads and sidewalks. The man in charge of the station was in the process of locking up for the night. There will be no trains stopping in District 12 for the rest of the night. So my plan in leaving tonight was completely shot. It took the man a couple of minutes to realize I was standing right in front of him trying to get his attention. When he finally did look up, he nearly jumped out of his skin and drop all the papers he was carrying.

"Gave me a fright you did Miss.. Everdeen" I hated how almost every person in this world knew me even though I did not know who they were.

"Sorry sir" I apologized.

"No need to be sorry" He says, "What can I do you for?"

"When does the next train to the capitol leave?"

He raises an eyebrow up at me. "Why must you need to know?"

"I am planning a trip" I mutter.

"I believe it is in three days. The ticket is going to cost you 250" Geez I forgot how incredibly expensive these train tickets were. Did not matter I would spend all the money I had just so I could see Peeta's face if only for a day.

"Can I buy the ticket now?"

"If you really wish, but I will say this. The train that is leaving in a couple days will stop in every District"

"Why?" I asked. I did not need delays.

"You know how tourist are"

"How about another one.. after the tourist one."

"If you don't catch the tourist train then you would have to wait another three weeks for the next one" He tells me.

"I'm not waiting that long" I say.

"Then you want one?"

I nod, "I'll come by tomorrow and give you the money then just have the ticket ready"

"Anything for you Miss. Everdeen"

I was about to turn and walk away but suddenly stopped and faced him again, "Could you not mention this to anyone."

He pretended to zip his lips, "Not a word" He smiles and I stalk off in the direction of home. I was really doing it; I was really going to get My Peeta back, nothing was going to stop me now. I walked down the bare sidewalks with my head held high, nobody was going to stand in my way. I would have him back in less that a week hopefully. I continued too stroll down the newly shoveled sidewalks feeling like I could take on the entire world if it came down to it. I was about to turn right and head into town and then left down the long road, it was the quickest way to get to the Victor's Village, but as soon as the town came into my view something hard hit my temple sending me flying to the ground. I felt light-head at first, my vision was slightly blurry. Whatever had hit me, hit me a good one. Once my eyes adjust I became aware that at least three huge males and two females were blocking my path. I was trapped in a circle.

"Where are you going this time of day Everdeen?" Came an all too familiar voice.

"What the hell you want now Ceal?" I ask getting to my feet. I rose only to be knocked down again by the large guys fist.

"Let me introduce my brother York" He was the larger man that had just pushed me back down on the ground. "Zeeks, Parva, Myself and you know Mary"

"I really don't care about your gang Ceal" I got to my feet again and this time they let me.

"You need punished for what you did it me" That was when I noticed that her eyes were black and blue from me pounding the life out of her. I noticed a chunk on hair had been ripped from the left side of her blonde head, her lip was cut and bruised. Had I really ripped her hair out. Whoa guess I was not one to mess with. This whole situation I found myself in was very amusing. I started chuckling.

"What is so funny" Ceal spat.

"You" I burst out laughing.

Huh?"

"You cannot fight me yourself so you have a bunch of pansy asses do it for you"

"Shut up Everdeen" Ceal spat.

"Answer me this:Why do you hate me so?"

"Because all I ever hear from people It Katniss Everdeen did this, she did that, she killed Snow, She killed Coin, She saved Panem,She saved us from the Hunger Games. I am tired of hearing Katniss, Katniss, Katniss, And you know to top that off you managed to sink your claws into the one man that I have had a crush on most of my life. Peeta was supposed to be with me, Not you. You don't deserve him. I mean for god sakes Everdeen you ran him out of town by sleeping with your best friend Hawthorne." Ceal snickered, approached me and grazed my cheek, "I guess you'll spread to anyone as long as they have something between their legs" OH where are my bows and arrows, I wanted to shoot this witch right through the skull. I know it sounded harsh, but I could not help the anger, I opened my mouth to say something but she continued, "Lets see the skank slept with Gale, thats one. Hmm That designer from the capitol. What was his name. Help me out Zeeks."

"Uh..uhh Cinna" Zeeks replies.

"Don't you dare talk about Cinna" I scream at the top of my lungs.

"Why we all know who he was, your games were no secret"

"SHUT UP!" I yell.

"Don't scream at my sister!" York's hand comes up and slaps me clean across the face. It stung like crazy, but I was too angry to knowledge the pain. Although I knew it was going to leave a bruise on my cheek.

"Lets see who else has Katniss Everdeen slept with, Theres Gale Hawthorne, Designer Cinna, I would not be surprised if you pounded Mr. Abernathy: considering he is a dirty old man and he would do fresh young women that throw themselves at him. Three so far Gale, Cinna, Abernathy, Hmm Oh yeah that hunk you were with in the Quarter Quell...Finnick Odair?"

That does it She has no right to even speak or knowledge Cinna or Finnick, it is an insult to their memory. I lunge forward, having every instentions in pounding her face in for a second time, but before I could even punch her. Zeeks and York grabbed hold of my arms and legs, slamming me on the ground. My back connected with the hard cement, pain shot through my spine and into the back of my head.

"That is four guys you've f***ed. Gale, Abernathy, Dead Cinna, Dead Finnick, who else.

"Peeta is the only person I have ever had sex with and you know what he is so good at it. The way he touches me, kiss me and tell me how much he loves me. You can only dream he does that to you. Your nothing but a worker in his eyes, A worker he will probably fire. He does not think about you Ceal, he never has, never will. Your a ghost to him. I am his fiancee not you"

"Shut up just shut up" There were tears streaming down her face. "I'll kill you I'll KILL YOU" Then she was on me straddling me, punching me so hard in the face like I had done to her. I could not fight back because Zeeks and York were holding my hands and legs down with such a iron grip. I had Zeeks holding my hands above my head, York hold my legs down, Ceal was straddling me. Parva sat back and grinned down at me. Mary seemed interested in looking at Zeeks behind. Ceal's small fists were pounding my face left and right, but it barely hurt because she was not hitting me properly. In fact she was not even drawling blood. It felt like a little kid hit. She hit me for 10 minutes before deciding to get off of me, the worse she did was leave red marks all over my face. I laughed once she got down and she turned to shoot me a deadly look.

"York, Please" She batted her eyes at her brother.

"Anything for you sissy" York's said, he let go of my feet and as soon as he did, my boot came flying up and cracked him in the mouth. There was nothing but rage in his eyes, he suddenly bolted forward, straddled me and pounded my face in with his large fists, now his punches hurt a lot worse than Ceal's did. Blood started to run as soon as he hit me the first time, it seeped from my mouth, nose and as his nails reeked down my cheeks, blood started to flow from there too. He punched me left and right my face starting to look like a mangled mess. Ceal was laughing for the first couple of minutes but then her laughter died down as she caught sight of the rag in her brothers eyes.

"York thats enough"

"This skank kicked me, NOBODY KICKS ME!"

"I told you only a little bit" Ceal yells.

I could not see anything, I could not think and I could not get this beast of a man off of me. Then when he was done pounding my face, that was when I heard the zipper of his pants zip down. He is hovering overtop of me and he rips away my top.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YORK!" Ceal shrieked.

"This is not your business anymore go home" York ordered her.

I cracked open my bloody eyes just in enough time to see Ceal grab hold of York's large arm and try and pull him away from me. "Lets just leave her there no need to..." He slapped her. I cannot believe he slapped his own sister. Ceal squealed and I can see her grab hold of Mary's arm and bolt into the opposite direction of us.

"Ceal says you love men so much. How does three sound" He places his nasty lips on mine and I spit blood in his face which causes him to punch me hard again. Zeeks and Parva kneel down next to me and start grabbing at my chest. Oh god this was not going to happen to me. I open my mouth to scream, but York places a hand overtop of it.

"It's not time for you to scream yet" He replaces his hand with his mouth and shoves his tongue down my throat. I could not believe a man could be this dirt or this vulgar. Oh please god don't let this happen to me. York rips the button of my pants off, literally the button is detached from my jeans. He pulls them down and my skin is greeted with the icy feeling of the ground. I am thrashing so hard against him as he attempts to lay on top of me.

"Now you can scream" He says talking my hand away from my mouth.

"Peeta" Was all I managed to say as tears started to stream down my face

"What was that?"

I remained silent.

He slaps me, "I want you to beg"

"Go to hell" I cry. I think York is about to hit me again, he pulls his arm back but the impact never comes, his weight is lifted from my body and I open my eyes to see a young man with dark hair pull him off me and throw him at least three feet on the ground. Zeeks and Parva rush to York's aid and soon it becomes a three to one fight. The black haired mystery man is kicking the hell out of them and it is not long before the three men bolt away from the scene. I am on the ground crying so hard, I am so cold, so scared, my body is shaking, blood is going everywhere. At first I really did think this man that saved my life was Gale, but the closer he got the more I realize it was not him. He scoops me up into his arms like I weigh nothing, then he starts carrying me in the opposite direction of my home. Was he going to hurt me? Where was he taking me? No, He probably was not going to hurt me. If he wanted to see me hurt then he would of let them men rape me. The last thing I remember before passing out cold was the slap of warm air as I enter the building.

I wake up wrapped in a blanket, my head is resting on a pillow, and I am laying on the floor next to a very small fireplace. The blood from my face has been washed away and my ripped clothes have been replaced by new comfortable ones. I lifted my head off the pillow, ignoring the pounding and pain that was going through it. He was sitting there with his back towards me slicing a shiny red apple with a knife. I glance around the room I was in. It was just on big room that had a small fridge, one table, one fridge, one small chair, a couch and a narrow hallway that connects to two small rooms, probably his bathroom and bedroom. I sat up and let the blanket fall off my body, he must of heard my soft movements because he looked over his shoulder and smiled at me.

"OH your awake. Apple slice?" He offered.

"No thanks" I decline.

"Their good" He smiles and pops one into his mouth.

"You saved my life?"

The smile vanishes from his face and his expression turns serious, "I couldn't let those monsters rape you"

"That was amazing really three to one" I mumbled.

"Well I have had lots of practice in a three person fight" He turns around in his sitting position so he is now facing me. "Hass Fredrickson" He introduces himself and pops another apple slice into his mouth.

"Katniss Everdeen" I introduce.

"That is a beautiful name for such a brave hero. You are well known and liked in District 10" Hass smiles.

"Your not from District 12?" I question.

He shakes his head. "Nope but my mother was"

"That explains the dark hair, seam gray eyes and the olive skin"

He chuckles, "Yup I look like my mother a lot"

I took a moment to drink in Hass's appearances he really did look like someone from Seam, Dark black hair, gray eyes, olive skin, He was tall probably around 6'1, he towered over me by 6 inches. He was real thin, but real built.

"So you grew up in District 10?"

"Sure did, So that means the smell of cow poop does not phase me" He grinned.

I smiled widely, it is the first real huge smile that I have managed not to fake since Peeta has been away.

"My mother was from 12,father from 10. They met on a Victor's tour" That caught my interest.

"He was in the games?"

Hass's smile faded momentarily, "Unfortunately yes"

"Which ones"

He smiles again, "You sure love to ask a lot of questions"

"Sorry" I apologize feeling myself going red.

"No big. Uh yes he was in the..." He bit his bottom lip hard and became lost in thought, "I want to say 48th Hunger Games, On the tour he met my mother, when it ended he came back to 12 in hopes of getting to know her better, they fell in love, had...WHOA...and then little baby me came" I liked this guy he had a good sense of humor. "So what's your story?"

"Where do I begin" I say with a frown.

"Oh don't do that" He pouts, "Don't frown."

"After everything I have been through I can't help but frown"

Hass remains silent.

"Lets see I was in the 74th hunger games, war between the rebels and the capitol broke out about a year after my games, my sister had died along with so many other, My fiance and me got pregnant but ended up loosing the baby and he is currently in the capitol. And I was almost rape, if you had not come along then..." I bit my lip hard trying not to cry in front of him. I felt this strange attachment to him like he could be trusted.

"Bummer. Why is he at the capitol"

I sigh deeply feeling the sorrow begin to rise again. "It's...hard, complicated to say"

"Alright you don't have to tell me I won't intrude"

"Thank you" I smile.

"Anyway, Miss Everdeen The night is young and a woman like you should not go home without a handsome, young, built escort like me"

"You think they will come back" I ask him.

He shrug, "Who knows but I am not going to allow you to wander the dark, scary streets of 12 by yourself."

"Well I guess we should get going then" I only hope that when I do make it home, Gale would not ask questions about why I was gone so long or Who this stranger was that was escorting me home. One thing was for certain nobody could know about my visit to the train station, not even my new friend Hass. We exited his tiny little house and I recognized the newly constructed area that used to be the seam. We were a good ways away from the Victors Village; I had plenty of time to chat and get to know the man that saved my life.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Nosey" Was his reply.

"I'm not nosey just curious"

"Curiosity killed the cat"

"I'm 22"

"I'm Hass" He joked.

"Ugh fine be like that"

We were silent for a couple of minutes, the moonlight over our heads was the only source of light to guide us.

"29 and still young"

"Holy crap" I held back a giggle.

"What?"

"Your a lot older than I thought" I chuckled.

He pretends to pout, "Am Not

"Are too"

"I am not" He leans down and scoops a handful of snow, he then throws it at me and it hits me in the chest.

"Your mean"

"No I'm not I am nice and sexy"

Oh god he reminds me so much of Finnick, so flirtatious, so full of himself but in a good way. Its weird because if Finnick was still alive he really would be 29 or 30 by now. It's strange that these two are basically the same age, act the same, have the same flirtatious smile. I see Finnick in Hass and they never even met each other. I guess the statement it true: Everyone has a twin out there. We walked and talked for another couple of minutes before coming to a stop at my front door.

"Here you are Miss. Lady" Hass smiles.

"Thank you so much for everything" I was about to wrap my hands around his neck and drag him into a hug, but before I could get my hands around him the door opens and an angry looking Gale steps out on the porch and shoves Hass away from me. Hass frowns and puts his hands up in the air as if someone had told him to freeze.

"What the hell are you doing with a complete stranger"

Here we go again, Gale and his jealous attitude.

To be continued...


	5. Threats and Promises

Hehe Sorry the chapter is so late I have been playing world of warcraft and after 3 years of not playing it I am back to being addicted. I am going to try and post chapters but with that game running they will be late. If anyone plays wow come and quest with me lol my realm is Llane and my characters name is Melva hehe. Anyway I will be trying to post quicker chapters from now on, but I do not know how well that will work out, but don't worry I will not quick it if I can help it.

Chapter 5

Threats and Promises

(Gale's POV)

I pushed the stranger away from Katniss and he held up his hands in defense. Where the hell has she been for forty damn minutes. It does not take that long to go from the victors village to the hospital and back. Was she up to something or was she merely trying to avoid us. Who the hell was this guy and why was he walking Katniss to her doorstep. I cocked my head sideways to get a good look at him. He had dark black hair and gray eyes like most of us from the seam did. He was tall, thin but built with muscles. I knew most of the people from District 12 and this guy was one I have never seen before. I did not like the looks of him nor did I trust him. He shot me a dirty look, obviously he did not like me because I had just pushed him out of the way effortlessly. I could feel Katniss's anger and knew a lecture of some type was going to start spilling from her mouth. I could always expect a lecture from Katniss when she gets mad at me. But I had a right to be protective over her, it was my duty to look out for her. I promised the little dumb-shit Mellark I would. I do not go back on promises no matter who I make them with.

"There is no need to push Gale!" Katniss hissed.

"Who is this guy Catnip?" I question her.

"Hass This is Gale Hawthorne, Gale this is Hass Fredrickson." She introduced us, Hass stuck out his hand and had every intentions of shaking mine, but I would not touch him. I crossed my hands over my chest not wanting to look at this stranger. As I turned to stalk back into the living room I could feel Katniss's angry eyes staring at the back of my head. She was pissed yet again, oh well she'll get over it. I was about to take a seat on the couch when I heard Catnip invite the stranger in. Wow I did not know she was into inviting strangers in her household. Hass could be a thief, a murderer, he could be anything. Was she really that thick headed, did she not want the news. People were always getting robbed, killed and tortured.

"Really Catnip? Really?"

"What?" She asked defensively.

"Your going to invite a stranger into this house"

"Gale it is one of your business who I invite in, besides Hass saved me from being..." Her voice trailed off and she hung her head low as if ashamed to finish her sentence. What could have possibly been so bad that she could not tell me

"I saved her from being raped" Hass said, quickly finishing her sentence.

I swear I felt my face heat up, my eyes had to have gone black, my palms became fists and I had revenge in my hearts. I turned to face the pair, not realizing how incredibly deadly I looked. What kind of sick, twisted human being would do something like that. I hated the stranger a little less now that he saved her from a man trying to force himself on her. How can a man be that sick and violent. I for one would never ever do that to a woman, especially not Katniss.

"Who did it" I say quietly between my clutched teeth.

"It's taken care of Gale" Katniss assures me.

"Tell me!" I raised my voice.

"Gale, Hass helped me" Katniss muttered.

But that is not good enough, There was some sicko out there that nearly raped my best friend and the woman I was in love with, there was no fricking way I was going to let him get away with that. I was going to beat that man until he was dead and I was not being dramatic either. I was going to rip a piece of rotting wood off Abernathy's porch and bash whoever tried to rape Catnip over the head...until they were dead. I approached Katniss and placed my hands on both her shoulders gently. She seemed to be a bit shaken up as I perched my hands against her shoulders, she shrugged my hands of her shoulders calmly, which that only made me angrier. Was she now scared of men? Of me? Would she be afraid of Mellark? I took a moment to study her more closely, there were dark red marks on her face. Bruises were forming on her neck and she was shaking like a leaf. Someone had left all these marks on her small delicate face and I was going to make them pay.

"I am going to ask you one more time catnip, Who did it?" I question.

"Gale...It's taken care of; it doesn't matter; Hass here saved me from him" Catnips says.

"Sure did" Hass says proudly and placed his hands on his hips. Just then Delly entered the room with a cup of coffee in her hand, her hair was wet from just getting out of the shower and was now a darker blonde. Delly and the stranger locked eyes and this Hass raised his brows multiple times and came into the living room more. He stopped his movements so he was standing in front of Del, grabbing her hand into his, He placed his lips on her small hand making her blush violently.

"Hass Fredrickson." He introduced himself in a seductive tone.

"Delly Cartwright" She smiled. I could tell she was memorized by his beauty. I was grateful that he saved my best friend from being viciously raped, but the way he was looking at Delly was really pissing me off. He kissed her hand again and let it drop to her side. Delly's smile remain huge as he walked back across the living room floor to stand next to Katniss. If this guys had not saved Katniss's life I would be punching his lights out by now for kissing Delly's hand. I don't know why, but I find myself very overprotective over these two women I find myself living under the same roof with. I could kind of care less if Delly becomes enchanted by him, but If Katniss starts to take a huge liking to him then it was on. Besides I knew she would not do that to baker-boy. She loved the little prick too much to cheat on him and besides if she decided to cheat on him, then it should be with me not some, not some stranger she picked off up the streets. I was the perfect match for Katniss. Me. Not Hass, Not Mellark. Me. We knew each other from the inside out. I would never hurt her like Mellark did. Never endanger her like he did, would NEVER throw her down a flight of stairs while she was pregnant. I was still mad at the fact Mellark had even gotten her pregnant and I was furious at the fact he threw her down the stairs and caused her to miscarry. What idiot does that to the woman he is in love with.

Oh well Mellark had explained it to me, explained everything there was to explain about his tracker jacker venom. And wow I almost felt sorry for him. The things he had told me that night I beat the crap out of him for hurting Katniss was unbelievable. They beat him until bruises formed, they cut him almost everywhere, only the major arteries were avoided. I honestly cannot imagine going through something as drastic as that. As much as I hate Mellark and want to see him suffer, I would not want him to have to ever go through that again. Nobody should have to tolerate that kind of torture.

"Where were you catnip" I suddenly asked.

"Went to see my mother" She answers immediately.

"Why did it take you forty minutes?"

She sighed heavily and shot me an angry look, "Your not my father Gale, so stop acting like it"

"I just want to..." She cut me off.

"Want to make sure I am not going to do anything crazy? Make sure I'm not curling up in a ball somewhere crying my eyes out over Peeta" She bit her lip and I could see the tears surfacing, "I'm fine Gale really. I know Peeta loves me and won't be gone to long. So stop the damn worrying."

"I care about you Catnip is that wrong?"

"When you are constantly asking me questions yes"

"You said you went to see your mother, is that all you did"

she threw her hands up in the air and hissed, "Yes Gale"

I raised an eyebrow at her. Unconvinced by her answer, but for now I let the subject drop and remained suspicious of this person in her house. He was just to good to be true. I watched as Katniss led him into the kitchen for a cup of coffee, when he passed Delly- who was leaning against the living room wall for support, he winked at her which caused her face to go redder. Who the hell did he think he was enchanting her like this. I mumbled to myself annoyed and plopped down on the couch next to the fireplace. I did not have time for jealousy. Right now I was going to find out who tried to rape Katniss and I was going to beat them until they were dead, and if Mellark called again, I was going to tell him what happened and he too was going to beat the hell out of them. Maybe Mellark would be so angry that he would come back to District 12 and back to Katniss. Did I want him to come back. Nope. Maybe if he stayed away long enough, she would get over him and I would move in on her, help her move on and hopefully eventually she would start showing some kind of affection towards me.

"Your jealous" Delly's soft, but yet annoying voice pierced ears. She plopped down on the couch next to me and brought her knees to her chest.

I look at her, "I do not like him being around Katniss" That was true, but I did not tell her about how jealous I was when he picked up her hand and pressed it to his lips. I mean there was nothing going on between Delly and I, probably nothing ever will go on, Katniss was the one I loved always and forever. The chance of me moving on was slim to none. I will never move on to anyone but Katniss, but Delly on the other hand. She was could be my temporary comfort, I needed someone to get my mind off of Katniss, just for a little bit and Delly seemed like the girl who was hopelessly romantic. The girl who always dreamed her prince charming would come and sweep her off her feet and onto a white horse. I could be that guy for for a bit.

"He saved her from those monsters that tried to hurt her" Delly says in a mere whisper.

"I'm not...He just...I don't know"

"She just only meet Hass I doubt there is anything going on between them. Besides you have no idea how much she loves Peeta"

"Yeah Whatever you say Del" I mumbled annoyed.

"Are you jealous of him? Because he got better looks than you? Don't you think he is cute?" She giggles at her own joke and all I do is roll my eyes at her.

"I...uh...he doesn't...I don't judge guys...I"

Delly giggled at my struggle for words, she ruffled my hair, slid off the couch and said, "I'll never understand you Gale Hawthorne, but I like your loss for words" With that said she stalked off into the kitchen to speak with our... well their new friends. As she did I cocked my head to the side, not realizing What I was doing, she certainly did have a nice behind. What was I doing, I snapped out of my trance and followed Delly into the kitchen. Their new friend was sitting on one of the chairs with a cup of coffee in one hand and a good looking sugar cookie in the other.

"Who were they" I asked rounding the table so I stood at the back of Hass's chair. He opened his mouth to tell me but Katniss placed her tiny hand over it.

"I"m fine Gale"

"No this is not fine. These people tried to rape you!" I turned to Hass again, "Who the hell was it?"

"I don't need you going to jail for murder"

"Shut up Katniss, Hazz or bass or whatever your name is. Who tried to rape her?"

Katniss let her hand drop from his mouth. "First of all the names Hass and second of all it was them damn brothers and that sister that works at the bakery" He says. That blonde headed bitch that hates Katniss because Peeta picked her as a lover. I was pissed too that Katniss and Peeta chose each other, but I was not going to be the type of person that would rape someone just because of anger. Ceal. That was her name. I do not usually go into the bakery, but I have seen the workers that have walked out of there after a long day and Ceal was the witch that always had her nose up in the air, always had her blonde ponytail pulled back and always wore skanky shorts that barely fit her. Who the hell wore shorts in the winter.

"Are you fricking serious?" I question him. I did not say fricking.

He nods his head, "Yup, I managed to break the large ones nose, so everything is all good"

"Wasn't one of them her brother?" I question.

Hass shrugs. "I think so"

"Y-York is her brother" Katniss mutters out. There is a stutter of fear in her voice. She bites her bottom lip and stares at the tiny dark spot on the table.

"There were two others too"

"What three?" I was pissed now.

"Zeeks and I not sure what the other ones name is" Hass said.

"It is fine Gale they won't hurt me again" Katniss says.

Everything was not all good. I wanted to make this son of a bitch pay for what he has done to her. What kind of sick man forces himself on a women. I did not say anything else to the group. I calmly walked back into the living room having every intentions of putting on my boots, coat and gloves. I was going to track that monster down. He would probably be in town, wandering the darken streets, telling his damn group how much fun it was in hearing Katniss scream out. I was going to kill him, his friends and his sister. I was not going to hurt Ceal because she was a female and unlike York I did not hit females, but I was going to hurt her mentally, but not physically. I exited the room in a couple large stomps and Katniss small footsteps were right behind me.

"Gale don't" She begged.

"They are not going to get away with this!" I spat.

"I'm fine alright really" She assures me.

"No your not Katniss. You are not fine so stop pretending" I hiss.

"Do you want to go to jail" Tears were starting to form in her eyes, "Or worse do you want to be put on death row"

"If it means wiping monsters like him off the street then yeah."

I never really thought about going to jail or being put on death row for killing this piece of trash. I do not care, my mind is made up and it is saying go into the wintry night, stalk him and his little gang down and kill them. I ignored Katniss and proceeded towards the front door. She was begging me to stay here, but the more I looked at her the more angry I became at the large marks that was inflicted on her. I was becoming more and more vengeful by the second.

"I'm fine really" She says.

"NO YOUR NOT" I yell.

"Gale stop..."

"No I will not stop" I shout.

I can tell she is not fine, I could tell she is shaken up. I slipped my jacket on then my boots, pulled opened the door and stalked out into the wintry night have nothing but vengeance in my heart for my best friend. I could hear the pleas in Katniss's voice, her footsteps as she struggled to pull on her boots and coat and make an attempt to come after me. I was too quick for her though, as soon as she had her boots on her feet I vanished from sight. Her house in the victors village vanished from my sight and all that was left to do now was find that monster. The air was freezing cold and it had to be at least 18 degrees out here or something. I wish it was warm like it was yesterday. I must of wandered District 12 for at least an hour or so because by the time I found myself standing in front of Mellark's bakery, I have seen nothing but a abandon cat. They were nowhere to be found, probably hiding out for the night. They might of thought Hass and Katniss would go to the police and turn them in for trying to rape her. Rape like murderer is a serious crime. A person that is found guilt of that crimes earns themselves jail time. About a year of it. A person accused of murder and found guilty of it, spends two years in jail and then after their two years are up it is execution time.

Did I really want to do this. Did I really want to kill this man and leave my siblings alone for two years, rot in some stench stink cell. They had already lost their mother, they did not need to lose their big brother too. I was the only thing they had left in this world. Posy was only ten years old and already her mother and father had vanished from her life. Someone that young did not deserve to have both her parents die. I had people counting on me. I could not do this. I place my hands behind my head and stalk over to an abandon bench, I brushed a handful of snow off the wood with my forearm and took a seat, ignoring the fact that my pants were getting soaked from the dampness on the bench. I stared at that large bakery building for about a minute or so, wondering what in the world Mellark was up to. Who cares I guess. He could stay in the capitol.

The soft padding of feet coming from my left side caused my head to whip in that direction and glare at whoever was approaching me. As soon as I caught sight of who it was I relaxed and sighed in annoyance. Delly. What the hell was she doing out here and in the freezing cold. Why was she tracking me down like this? Why would she leave Katniss alone with that stranger. She approached me, wiped the snow off the other side of the bench and took a seat next to me. I was really beginning to think she had the hots for me. Which was not good because I did not feel...Actually I don't know what I felt for her. I have not known her for very long, but yet I felt this need to protect her like I felt the need to protect Katniss. In a way we were friends, nothing else.

"Did you find anyone?" She asks.

"Does it look like it?" I ask harshly.

"Don't get upset"

"What are you doing here?"

She frowns, "Can I not be concern for my new friends well being?"

I was silent

"I don't want to see you go to jail Gale" She studies the snow that was laying on her boot and then shakes her foot so it would fall off.

"I'm not going to do anything" I grumble.

"You are too important to Katniss. I don't want to see you locked up and executed."

"Why would you care about me?"

"Because Gale you are a friend" She says.

"Is that what we are? Friends?" I wanted nothing more and I just had to know if she thought of me as something more than just friends. My mind was swimming with thoughts of her wrapping her small hand in between mine at the police station. I could not get over the fact that she had threaded our finger, ruffled my hair and was putting multiple moves on me like this. This was crazy I did not have feelings for her, it was too soon. Besides my heart ached for Katniss and her only. Falling in love with another woman did not seen like the right thing to do at a time like this. It is harder to fall out of love then in and I was in no hurry to fall out of love with Catnip.

"Yeah we are friends Gale. Why wouldn't we be" She smiles.

"Because I think...Maybe...you following me around like this...Why are you following me around?"

"Because you are my friend and I care for my friends. I always want to help them out" She says.

"You don't feel nothing else for me?" I ask biting my lip.

"No Gale" She said.

"Are you sure?"

She chuckles, "Pretty sure"

"Positive?" I ask.

She just laughs. "How about you Gale, You got feelings for me?"

No I absolutely did not have feelings for her. All my feelings went towards Katniss. I had to think of a way for both of us to sort out our feelings. I slowly rise from the cold bench and motion for her to do the same thing. She nods her head and stands up with me. I was so much taller than her, like way taller than her. I had to lower my head a bit just so I could look into her eyes. There was only one way to do it. One way to convince myself that I was not in love with her. Why did I even have to convince myself. I already knew.

"We both need to convince ourselves that we are not falling for each other"

She smirks, "Gale I'm not..."

I cut her off. "I think you are"

"What makes you think I am falling for you" Her voice became soft and her face became serious, she bit her lip. "And What if I say yes"

"I've had a lot of girlfriends I can tell when is women is coming onto me and if you say yes I don't know what I would think." This was fun messing around with her like this.

"Kiss me then" The words seemed to spill out of her mouth effortlessly.

I blushed, "Huh?"

"Kiss me square on the lips and then I'll tell you if it makes my heart leap or not. I'll be honest with you and you be honest with me"

"How is this going to help us figure anything out?" I ask.

"Gale, You are convinced I am falling for you and I am determined to prove you wrong. If we kiss and both feel nothing in the kiss then problem solved."

"And if you feel something in it?"

"I won't"

"But if you do?"

"Then I'll admit it to you" She says.

This was crazy, stupid and pointless. What should I do? Kiss her? How was kissing someone a way to figure out your feelings. I guess it wasn't. I placed my hands on her shoulders and was about to lean in but the sound of laughter filled my ears, Glancing over my shoulder I caught sight of a group of guys. There were three of them and the anger returned to my body. These were the fags that almost raped Katniss I just knew it. Hass said they were Ceal's brother and his friends. I knew who York was, but not the other two. I let go of Delly's shoulders and pushed her behind me as they got closer to us.

"I really am going to kill him for ruining my fun with..." York's voice trailed off as he caught sight of us. I could not believe they were stupid enough to still be wandering he streets after what had happened between them and Katniss only a couple of hours ago. I took a moment to examine every inch of York. He nose was still gushing blood and it ran down his lips, chin and neck. Hass nailed him a good one. I could do it right here, right now, I could bash his head off the window, snap his neck, claw out his eyes and then run for it. Escape into the woods.

"The hell are you doing out here in our territory?" He questions me.

"I'm going to kill you for what you did to Katniss" I threatened.

He chuckled. "The bitch had it coming. Insulted my sister, Kicked me in the face. If it was not for that redneck coming along and pounding our faces in..." He smirked, approached me and slapped me against the cheek lightly. "We would of had her punished hard."

"Touch me again and I'll break your fingers" I threatened.

York laughed and slapped my cheeks again, that was when I took hold of his middle, ring and index and bent them back just a bit to show him that I was no fooling around that I was completely serious about breaking his fingers. He pulled away from my grip and shot me a devious grin. I gritted my teeth at his expression and took a step forward, my fist raised, my eyes filled with anger, palms clutched and ready to kill. York's dark eyes moved past me and rested on Delly- who was still hiding behind me. She was extremely scared that these men would push me aside and hurt her like they hurt Katniss.

"Why hello there baby" He smiled in Delly's direction.

"Don't you dare address her you piece of shit" I hiss, my arm swung backwards and I pushed Delly behind me even more so that she was completely hidden from sight.

"I am just saying hey to the lady" York looked back at his friends and laughed, they laughed with him.

"Look at the chest on her" His friend says.

"Behave yourself Zeeks" York chuckled.

"I wanna maul her" Zeeks hops up and down.

Delly stood behind me clinging onto my arm for dear life. It was almost like she was trying to hid herself from these monsters. I could feel her body tense up as the one called Zeeks approached us. He had dark hair and brown eyes, he really did look like a drug addict.

"Wanna go on a date with me tonight?" Zeeks asked.

"No" Delly quickly and quietly mumbled.

"I'm a lot of fun" He says and does the boldest, bravest thing. He tries to push me out of the way to get a better look at her, but I will have none of that. As hard as I could I push Zeeks backwards sending him to the wet ground, he cracked his head off the pavement and wailed as blood began to seep from his injured head. He hops to his feet, rubbing the sore spot on his head and takes his place next to his friends.

"Your such an idiot Zeeks" York says and grabs him by the front of his collar and pushes him to the ground again.

"I'm the victim not the idiot" Zeeks attempted to correct. York rolled his eyes and faced me.

York's eyes move towards Delly, "Come on baby. My friend has never slept with a blonde and would really like too"

"That's enough. Don't talk to her like that" I scream.

"Not very friendly is he" Zeeks smiled, "Come on Hawthorne let me have your lady friend"

"Drop dead" I yell.

"Lets not waste our time on these people boys. Hawthorne If you don't mind I got a lot to do before I go home and beat the hell out of my cat for meowing so much. God I hate the little shit, yesterday was so awesome, cut off part of the little things tail" York grins and his friends laugh, "Should be infected by now"

I wanted to punch him, beat him, kill him, What was stopping me? He was right there I could have my hands around his neck before he even had a chance to stop me. I could do it, twist his neck until it snap like a twig. Then I could grab Delly and bolt until the police stopped us and took us away for murder. Would she get charged with it because she was witness. I could not have her get taken away because of me. York's eyes flickered towards my clutched fists and this made him and his crew laugh harder.

"Go ahead Hawthorne take a whack at me, But I warn you if you do not only will my boys over here pound the life out of you. We won't fail in having our way with your blonde friend over there. Your friend Katniss was lucky to have that man come in save her, this time there will be nobody there to come to your little blonde-headed friend's rescue"

I was literally seeing red. I raised my fists.

"Go ahead I can't wait to have her body"

"No I'm not the one that should beat you to a bloody pulp; that should be Katniss's fiancee. I tell you what he really knows how to pound the hell out of someone. I won't kill you but I'd like too, all I can say is: if you ever, ever come near her again I'll make you suffer, I'll make you wish you were dead and then I'll let Peeta grant you that wish. Wait till he finds out what you have done to his finacee. Peeta Mellark is crazy sometimes, you do know he has killed people in those games for hurting Katniss" I watch the smile fade from his face and his eyes flicker in fear. "As for her" I nodded my head in Delly's direction, "If you ever talk to her, talk about her or any other women in such a sick or nasty way again I'll break you. I can't wait to see what Peeta does to you"

"I-I-I'm not.. afraid o-o-of-f-f a-a baker" He stammered.

"I am" I lied. Truth was I could pound Mellarks little face in if I wanted to.

"I'm done wasting my time on you" York and his people brush past me without another word and disappear into the dark night. I turn to Delly, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes" She stammers.

"I'm not going to let them hurt you Del."

"I know its just...I don't want them to hurt Katniss or Peeta or our new weird friend Hass or..." Her voice trails off and she looks up at me with them big beautiful eyes, "You Gale"

"They are not going to touch me" I assure her.

She let go of her grip on my arm and I turned to face her. A strand of blonde hair dips into her face and I don't hesitate I push the strand of hair behind her ear.

"Gale?"

"Hmm"

"Your right" She whispers so softly.

"About what?"

She is silent for a couple of minutes and then she leans forward, stands on her tiptoes and kisses me on the lips. HOLY CRAP she just kissed me. No,NO,NO this was not happening she could not have feelings for me it was way too soon. I did not want this. Katniss was the only one for me, but yet I could not stop myself from wrapping my arm around her waist, I hunched over so she could kiss me deeper. We had a major height difference. Her lips tasted way different than Katniss's-hers tasted like cheese buns, Delly's tasted like apples for some reason. I could feel her small hands in my hair as we kissed. PULL AWAY. PULL AWAY. My mine was screaming at me but I could not listen to it. PULL YOUR LIPS AWAY GALE. Instead of pulling away form her I pressed my lips against hers harder. Delly pulled her hands away from my hair and ran them down my arms, she then wrapped them around my back and kissed me harder. PULL AWAY. We had to of kissed for a good 5 minutes before she pulled away for air. I gave her soft little pecks as we both struggled to gain control over our breathing.

"Did you feel anything?" She asks me, her face is so red.

"That was hot" I breath out.

"That's not what I asked" She lightly scolds.

I gulp and chose my words carefully. "No, but it was a hot kiss"

"Good so our feelings for each other our nothing more than friends" She smiled and took off in the direction of the victors village.

We were completely and utterly silent the whole way there, neither of us brought up the kiss. It was like it never happened which I was happy when she did not bring it up at all. She had feelings for me I just knew it. Dammit Why did I have to attracted the unwanted chicks. Why couldn't I have the one I wanted, the one I needed. Katniss. I did not want Delly Cartwright. We walked into Katniss's house without saying one word to each other. We walked up the stairs and as soon as the door opened Katniss let out a breath of relief.

"You did not do it?" She asked.

"No but I ran into them" I mutter.

"I can't handle it if you go to jail for murder" Catnip says with tears of relief in her eyes.

"I'm going to let Mellark handle them" I say quietly.

Katniss bits her lip and starts shaking her head. "God no do not tell Peeta"

"Why the hell not" I ask angrily.

"Because Gale, Peeta really will go through with it."

"You don't think I will?" Was she comparing me to bread-face.

"I know you will, but Peeta is worse than you when he gets angry. I have seen you both at your angriest and I can honesty say I would rather you get angry over him any day"

"Whatever Catnip" I kick off my boots, slid off my jacket and plop down on the couch and stretch across it. I was tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep and push the images of that man from my mind. I did not care what Katniss said, the next time I see or talk to Mellark I was going to tell him everything there was to tell about that piece of garbage. I tilted my head up and stared in the direction of that black-haired man that saved Katniss's life. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Well miss Katniss I best be getting home" He smiles.

"You can come and visit anytime Hass" Katniss smiles back.

"I plan on it" His eyes venture over to where Delly was removing her shoes. I watched him walk over to her, grab her hand into his and kiss it again. "Until we meet again" He grins.

"It was nice to meet you Hass" Delly blushes.

"Nice to meet you too" Hass says.

I scowl as Hass kisses her right the left cheek. How dare a total stranger feel the need to kiss my...well my rebound for the time being. I really did not feel anything for her, but it was nice to have someone to kiss on, to hold onto to and to be with. Maybe we could be friends with benefits. It was a lot better than being lonely and having to watch Katniss pout over Peeta, which she seemed to be getting better. She has not been crying like she used too, actually today I think I only seen her cry once, maybe twice. Katniss walked Hass out and Delly came over and sat on the sofa chair next to the fire that was slowly dying.

"Gale can we talk about something?" Delly asks quietly.

"What's there to talk about" I ask lazily.

"We kissed Gale"

"So?"

Delly gulped and ran a hand through her blonde hair. "I don't think I was being honest when I said I did not feel anything for you. I uh...I really don't know what to say other than I don't want to feel like this"

"Umm I don't know...what should we do?" I ask.

"Give it a try?" She questions while biting her lip and I can almost tell she was nervous.

Dammit, No she had a crush on me I freaking knew it. I knew it since the day she laced our hands together. No,No,NO, I have to stop it right here. Although my mind was screaming at me, telling me to push this girl away. I sat up from my lying position on the couch, leaned far over the arm of the couch and pecked her quickly. I guess I could have fun with this until my real soul mate opens her eyes. The door opened and a cold looking Katniss walks in with her hands tucked under her arms. Thank god saved by Katniss. I did not have to answer Delly's question.

"Did he leave okay?" Delly asked.

"Yup" Katniss rubbed her arms, trying to get the goose bumps to vanish. I wanted to go over there take her in my strong arms and warm her up. I wish it was Katniss that I had kissed today not Delly. Did I have feelings for Del? Nope. Would I ever? Maybe not. But for the time being she was my comfort until Katniss and Peeta drift apart. Peeta leaving was a start, her crying was slowly getting better and she was going places, talking to certain people. I just hope this recent issue with York won't stop her from going outside and into town.

"I'm going to bed" Katniss says with a yawn.

"Goodnight" I say and watch her lazily walk up the steps. once she was gone I sat up and motioned for Delly to come and sit by obeyed and slid into the spot next to me. "Do you like me, I mean like really like me?"

"A bit" She admitted.

"Me too" I lied. I did not like her in a romantic way only in a friend kind of way, but she did not need to know that. I gave her a fake smile and kissed my rebound girl. It will be fun while it lasts.

To be continued...


	6. Connections

Hello Hello sorry it took so long been uh *cough* *cough* busy. I really love all your comments and looking forward to hearing more.

Chapter 6

Connections.

(Katniss's POV)

I had to get up bright and early the next morning so I could go to the train station undetected and give the man money for a ticket. This was it today was my last day in District 12. I think I have managed to convince Gale and Delly that I am alright. I think they bought my lies, truth was I was still very upset that Peeta was in the capitol and would give anything to hear his deep voice, to see his clear sea-blue eyes, to feel his soft lips pressed up against mine. I want his hands around my waist, his scent to fill my nostrils. I missed him more than anything and could not wait to be reunited with him. I pushed the covers away from my body and threw my legs over the side of the bed until my feet hit the floor. It was still really early yet, 7:30 in the morning. There was no way Gale or Delly would be up and going this early. I knew both of them and they were not morning people. I pulled my relax body out of bed and rubbed the sandman out of my eyes. Today was the day I was going to buy that ticket, today was the day I would pack my things and slip out unnoticed. I think I managed to convince my friends that I was no longer depressed that it was only a temporary thing. I was in honest truth feeling a lot better, I knew for a fact that once I slip out of District 12 unnoticed then I would be on my way to the capitol and getting back the man I was in love with. I missed him like crazy.

I decided not to shower until I came home from the station, so I pulled on a pair of loose jeans, Peeta's baggy t-shirt that he had left here and a sweat-shirt over that. I walked across my bedroom floor and creaked open my door. I did not want anyone to know have left so I looked both ways down the hall, making sure nobody was up and using the bathroom. I tiptoed out of my room completely and walked quietly down the hall. I stopped in front of Gale's door and opened it as quietly as I could. He was laying on his stomach fast asleep, snoring slightly. The covers came up to his waist and beside him it looked like...I thought it was a large stack of blankets that he had just thrown on his bed, but then the blankets moved a little and groan. That was when I saw a head full of blonde hair. Holy mother of Mary; Delly was in his bed. She was curled up in the mountain of blankets and was in his bed. Why in the world were they sleeping together? I poked my head in a little more trying to get a better look at the two of them. Phew they had clothes on so that means they did not have sex. At least I hope they didn't. Don't get me wrong all I want Gale to do is move on, but I have known him for so long and a girl like Delly was not his type. He did not like the sweet and innocent girl.

All the girls he has ever dated has been wild, outgoing and just plain annoying. He liked the girls that wore the tight shorts during the summer and had large breast. Delly is just the completely opposite of what he likes. They do make a good couple though. They actually do look cute in bed sleeping together. I quietly shut the door and continued my journey down the steps. It was completely quiet downstairs, nothing but the sound of the clock tickling filled my ears. I walked into my living room and in one of my closets was a safe where I kept almost all my money the capitol has given me. We did not have banks or anything like the people in the pass did. We usually kept it in a safe like this one or if you were from the poor part of town, You'd have to find a place to stash your paychecks. I grabbed a handful of cash from the safe. He said the ticket would cost 250, its so expensive, but it would be worth it once I was in the capitol and in Peeta's arms. I shoved the large amount of money in my pants and made my way over to the front door. I peered outside, the sun was high in the sky and was slowly but surely melting the snow away. I shut my door and made my way through the still deep snow. The train station was a ten to fifteen minute walk, but it will all be worth it when I have that ticket in my hand, it will all be worth it once I was on that train to the capitol.

Nobody could know about this, nobody could stop me. I was the girl on a mission and darn it I was going to succeed in that mission. I passed the hospital and my mother immediately came to my mind. Even here in District 12 she still manages to be from my sight. Oh well its not like I need her comfort or anything, I have been surviving without her for at least five years what is another 10 or 23 years. Besides I do not expect her to just give up her job just to be with me, my mother was good at what she does and if that was what she wanted to spend all her time on. then so be it. It took a good twenty minutes to get to the train station, the man from yesterday was sitting in a chair inside a large box-shaped room, with one window. I approached the window and smiled widely at him, desperate to get his attention.

"Ah Miss. Everdeen you want that ticket I suppose?" He smiles.

"Yes please" I reply

I dig through my pockets and hand him my large roll of cash. He smiles counts the cash and hands me a train ticket. I was really going through with it. I was finally going to be reunited with the man I loved.

"The train will board in a couple days and like I told you earlier miss Everdeen it will be stopping in multiple Districts for tourism. This is in fact a one way ticket so be sure to bring money with you so you can buy a ticket home"

"Thank you so much sir" I say and walk away from him as casually as possible. I slid my ticket into my pocket hoping it will never bee seen by anyone but me. I had a couple days to wait, the train did not leave until Monday today was Saturday. He had said it was going to stop in every district that way people that were from different parts of the world had a chance to explore Panem's mighty nation and the districts that make up the nation. Not that they were impressive or anything. I have been to very District, meet many people and had to stare in the faces of people whose kids I killed. I hope it was not going to be like that. I hope they would spend a couple hours in each district then leave. I did not want to waste my time in seeing things that I had already seen.

I walked down the sidewalk with my hands in my pockets, my fingertips were brushing the light texture of the ticket. This was it, my key to Peeta; in a couple days I would see him. I would wrap my arms tight around his neck and tell him how much I missed him and how much I loved him. I walked down the care sidewalk and had every intention of going home, but an argue to go into the woods spread through my body. I wanted to hunt down a small sized rabbit and cook it up into stew. I thought about going home and getting Gale, but the sight of him and Delly sleeping in the same bed was just to cute to ruin. They honestly would make the best couple ever, they were cute together and he deserved to move onto someone else besides me. It was okay for him to do so I was not going to get mad or annoyed by that. I knew my feelings for Gale and that was that.

Instead of turning in the direction of home I turned in the direction of the Seam, hoping I could remember where my new friends house was. Hass Fredrickson was a little off, but he was extremely good company and I could see us becoming very good friends. I wanted to get to know him more and hopefully I would be able to do that when this whole situation between Peeta and I was all over. I wanted him to meet Peeta and I wanted Peeta to meet the man that saved my life. I was pretty sure after York had his way with me then he would kill me without a second thought. I walked into the seam moments later and tried to determine the exact location of his house. It took me a couple of minutes to locate his house, it took me a couple minutes but I found it on the east side of the seam. I tapped on his door quietly and in second it opened and Hass stood there, leaning on the door frame with a tired expression on his face. I have forgotten how early it was.

"I uh...sorry I woke you up" I apologize lamely.

He chuckles, "No worries Miss. Katinss. Would you like to come in for breakfast?"

"I uh, sure" He stepped sideways and allowed me to enter his small house that consist on one large room that was the living room, dining room, kitchen and a hallway that connects to the bathroom and his small bedroom. He led me into the kitchen and pulled a chair out from under his small table. There was only one chair at his whole table, I guess not many people came and visit him which was surprising because I would at least think his parents would have contact with him. Hass stalked over towards the fridge and rummaged through the contents, he had pulled out a loaf of banana bread, set it on a plate and set the plate in front of me. I choked back tears as soon as I saw the bread, knowing fully well where he got it from. Peeta's bakery.

"What's wrong?" Hass asks.

"Nothing" I say never taking my eyes off the bread as Hass cuts it into two large pieces. He takes one half of the bread and begins nibbling on it I just sit there staring at it. He made this I know he did. Almost everything I looked at reminded me of Peeta. I slid my hand into my pocket and fingered the small piece of paper that was my ticket. A couple days until my journey to the capitol.

"Is it your Finance?"

I sigh, "I...just really miss him" I say.

"Its okay to miss him"

"I know"

Hass smiles and pops the remaining banana bread into his mouth, "Tell me what's he like"

I smile softly, "He is the biggest sweetheart you will ever meet. He never really rises his voice intentionally. He is amazing,kind, loving, caring, and I love how he makes me feel like I can take on the entire world when I am with him. He is an amazing friend to others and..." I bit my lip, "He would of made a wonderful father."

"Sounds like a great guy" Hass says.

"He is more than great. He is completely wonderful."

"You guys are getting married?" Hass questions and points to the tiny little ring that I have not taken off since he left and since retrieved it from the snow ground. I regret ever throwing this ring at him. The ring was the only piece of Peeta I had and I refused to take it off.

"Yes and I can't wait to marry him"

"If you don't mind me asking why is he in the capitol?"

"A couple years ago during the rebellion, Peeta got kidnapped by the capitol. They got him and a couple other tributes that tried to escape the Quarter Quell's arena. You have hear of that right?" He nods and I continued. "They took him, they beat him, they..." I took a deep breath and stared into Hass gray eyes, " They altered his memories and corrupted his mind, they brainwashed him to hate me so much and it worked. He has these episodes where his mind goes back to the fake memories of me trying to kill him and that is when he defends himself from me. The last one he had was when we..." My voice trailed off and I looked at him unsure if I should finish my sentence, "I'm sure you don't want to hear this"

"Go on" Hass encouraged.

"We were having sex" I felt my face reddened, "And I don't know what triggered it, but one minute his mind was there and the next he was throwing me across the room." I did not tell him about Peeta pushing me down the steps and causing me to lose the baby that would have been beyond awkward. "I'm sorry I don't know why I am telling you all this. I mean I just meet you yesterday and you don't need to hear me whine and moan about my Finance."

"Nah, I don't mind at all hearing about your life story. Please continue" He smiled.

"Peeta left me a couple weeks ago hoping to find a cure to this poison. My life is just horrible without him. We need each other so much and I hate just sitting here waiting for him. Peeta and I have been through so much together, We escape two hunger games, He lost his leg for me. He helped me deal with my sisters death. He's always been there for me"

"He sounds like a amazing human being"

"Oh god he is" I smile ,boy was this man easy to like and get along with. "So what's your life story?"

"Lets see" He tapped his finger against his chin, "Grew up in district 10, father was a victor of the games, meet my mother on the tour, fell in love, got her pregnant with me. There is not much to say besides they both passed from this world. It was his fault...President Snow" Shivers ran down my spine as Hass said his name.

"What happened?" I was curious to find out how snow managed to mess Hass's life up like he had done mine and so many others.

"My father was strong, fierce and he loved my mother so much, but you know how it is when you win the games, the capitol never ever leaves you alone. Snow took great interest in my father, said he'd make a wonderful peacekeeper. I was young at the time I barely remember it, but what I do remember is horrible. He wanted my father to abandon his life in District 10 and become a his right hand man. My father was not going to leave my mother in district 10 to take care of me on her own. He had convinced her to move from 12 and live with him in 10. She did too because she was in love with him. All my father did was tell Snow...No and that was all it took he..." Hass's voice trailed off, he squeezed his eyes shut and bit down hard on his lip, "Snow's peacekeepers ripped my mother and me from our home in district 10 and forced us into the capitol. I remember us being thrown into a white room, my mother and I coward in the corner, we were unsure what was going to happen to us. After hours of cowering in the corner snow finally came in with a look of pleasure on his face. Two peacekeepers trailed in after him and in between the two of them, handcuffed... was my father."

"I'm sorry Hass you don't have to continue" I say.

"I have to now" He cleared his throat and gained control over his emotions, something I was not good at, "Snow explained to my father that he had no choice in becoming his right hand man. It was either that or watch his family suffer. My father stared at my mother unsure of what to do or say. All it took was the slight shake of her head and he denied Snow again, which really angered the president. Snow being Snow did not like the rejection so he had..." He clutched his jaw sightly, "He had his peacekeepers rape my mother right in front of me and my father. After they were done Snow asked him again, my mother shouted at my father-told him to refuse and he did. That was when they killed her. My father went berserk and somehow managed to wrap his legs around one of the peacekeepers neck and snapped it. He caused chaos while in that room, I remember the door bursting open and more peacekeepers pouring in to contain him. How can a man that is handcuff cause so much problems" He snickered slightly at the memory, "Nobody paid attention to me as I slipped out the open door, they were all trying to contain the man that was thrashing and pounding. I had bolted down the hallway not looking back, only one sound pierced my ears and that was the sound of a gunshot, that was all it took to convince me that they killed him. I can never get my mothers screams from my head. You remind me of her Katniss, the dark hair, the eyes, the smile, everyone from Seam is alike in some ways. I couldn't leave you that night, I could not let York rape you. Your strong like her, brave and above all a hero of Panem"

"I am far from a hero" I blush.

"But you are Katniss. You brought peace to this world, you have helped make those games vanish from sight"

"But not the peacekeepers" I say.

"Hmm, There will always be people out there that remains faithful to snow"

"I know but the source is dead and that is all that matters" I say

"I hope your right" He says

"He's dead now he can't hurt us"

Hass and I talked for a couple more minutes before he decided to get up and offer me a glass of milk to wash down my bread. I really did feel like I could trust him, it was an odd thing to say considering I had only met the guy yesterday, but there was this strange simple connection I had with him. Both of us had something horrible happen to us in the past by the capitol. He lost his parents because of them I lost my sister, friends and gain scars. So many innocent people have lost so many things. The nightmares were supposed to be over; they were over, but yet I felt this strange feeling that something in this world was wrong something was stirring, something unstoppable. And it all starts with them peacekeepers that are on the outskirts of the capitol. What was going on in there? I was going to find out while I was in there with Peeta.

"Are you alright?" Hass asks me.

"I was thinking"

He laughs, "Uh oh is that dangerous for you to do?"

"No I"m serious" His smile fades and he folds his hands and rests them on the table in front of him. I continued, "You know them Peacekeepers that have been making an appearance on TV lately."

"I've heard something about it why?

"I've been thinking a lot about it and You know how when Snow was alive he basically told them what to do, how to behave and they were loyal and followed the capitols orders?"

He nods.

"Well the peacekeepers are trained to follow orders their whole lives and once they become one they never do things on their own."

"Go on" He encourages.

"Someone has to be telling them what to do. They will not just attack capitol grounds without a leader. They need someone to tell them what to do how to act, that is how they are trained to be"

"You think someone wants to start another war?" Hass questions.

"I don't know about a war, but they want to start something" I say.

"Who would do that though?"

"Someone that wants the capitol back to its original state" I suggested.

He was silent for a moment, "You should go back"

"Where?"

"To the capitol"

My mouth dropped as the words left his mouth, was he really suggesting I go back to the capitol? That was a shockers, this man obviously did not know that I was a loony toon and it was sometimes dangerous for me to be on my own. I already planned on leaving without anyone knowing about it, and I would be going by myself. I knew it was dangerous to travel alone considering all I have done for the past couple of weeks was cry and wish Peeta was here. I was not all that depressed anymore. Was I? Kind of, maybe, I don't know. There still was this empty space in my heart; a space Peeta could only heal. I feel like I could trust this man, so I dipped my hand into my pocket and fished out my train ticket. I slid it across the table and placed it in front of Hass.

"So you planned on it?" He asks.

I nod "Yes, but you cannot tell anyone please"

"Your going by yourself?"

"Yes, Nobody can know, Not Gale, or Delly or my mother. Which My mother won't be a problem because I never see her Anyways"

Hass just laughs.

"What? "

"Your going to go out of District 12, Travel to almost every single district just to get to the capitol?"

I frowned, "Thats the plan"

"By yourself?"

I nod, "Whats wrong with that?"

"There some sick people out there, more sick then York"

"Well I have to do it, no questions asked."

"Fine then my new friend I'll come too" He gets this big smile on his face and scoops the ticket up from the table to examine it more closely. Should I let him come with me or should I tell him no? I barely knew this guy, What if Gale is right what if he turns out to be sort sort of weirdo. He saved me though though that has to count for something. He saved my life from Ceal's brother York-who was probably going to kill me after he was done doing things to me.

"You just met me and you want to help me?" I asked raising my brow in confusion.

"Yeah why not I have got nothing else better to do" He smiles.

"How can I trust you are not some weirdo?" I ask.

He bursts out into fits of laughter. "I am a weirdo, but I would never hurt you. You need someone to look after you and it seems to me that friend of yours is keeping you on a tight lease. Which I am sorry to say this but I do not like him one bit"

"Gale is hard to deal with" I say.

"What's his deal?"

"He is overprotective of me and he is...in love with me" I tell him.

"Are you sure because he was giving me the sink eyes when I kissed your blonde friend's hand"

"Gale will be Gale. Sometimes I don't know what he is thinking either, I wish I knew what goes on in his head" I was really curious as to why Delly and Gale were sleeping in the same bed, Maybe Hass was right Maybe he was falling in love with her and out of love with me. I hope so that would be a good start for him; Although I don't think Peeta would like it very much if my best friend dated his. Peeta hates Gale, even though he would never admit it. I can tell. I loved the effort Peeta was making to keep the peace between the two of them.

"This is crazy" I mutter with a smile.

"What is?"

"You and I going to the capitol together when we barely know each other"

"That does sound odd huh?"

I knew if I would take someone with me it should be Gale or Delly or my mother, but none of them would let me go I knew that for a fact. Hass was the only person willing to let me leave this place and I was going to take advantage of that.

"You'll buy a ticket?"

He nods, "Sometime today yeah"

"You have no idea how much this means to me"

"Anything for the hero of Panem" He smiles.

I really wish he would stop calling me a hero. I was no hero. I would never be a hero, I was simply going back to the capitol for Peeta. I missed him like crazy and wanted him to come back to district 12 with me. Who cares about the peacekeepers, who cares about the situations in the capitol Let Paylor handle it. My one and only target was Peeta and I was one step closer to getting what I wanted. Was it wise to invite this stranger on my trip? Will he tell Gale and Delly about it? Maybe yes, maybe no; I just got to trust him. Hass and I talked for ages before I decided to get up and go home. Delly and Gale should be awake by now and I did not want them asking any questions about where I have been. Hass walked me out, But before I left is house I turned to his and gave him the most serious expression I could.

"Your really don't have to come with me" I mumble.

He smiles, "I know I don't have too, I want to though. I want to help you find your honey"

I smile, turn my back on him and leave his house. I headed in the direction on home feeling a tab bit nervous that I have managed to tell one person that I planned on going to the capitol and that person plans on going with me. A person who I have just met yesterday. No worries I could trust him. I walked down the road for a couple of minutes, kicking the chunks of snow and ice as I went. Finally I pushed open my front door and the smell of cheese filled my nostrils. Cheese? I bolted into the kitchen not even bother to take off my boots or coat. Peeta...Was he here? Why was I smelling cheese buns. He had to be here and he had to be baking. I entered the kitchen and frantically looked around. I was disappointed when I saw Gale was the one cooking or attempting to cook the cheese Buns. His two younger brothers were sitting at the table followed by his sister. I have no seen them in so long.

"Hi Katniss" Rory greeted.

"Hey Rory" I greeted back.

"How does he do it" Gale asked irritated.

"Do what?" I asked confused.

"Cook these stupid things" Gale pulled opened the oven door and slid the tray of cheese buns out of the racks and onto the counter in front of him.

I smile softly, "Peeta is just skilled in the baking department"

"Yeah whatever" Gale grumbles and pokes at the buns.

"Why are you cooking them?"

"We wanted some" Rory answers for him.

"Yeah we love eating them although when Gale cooks them they look like unappetizing" Vick commented.

Gale frowned and pointed a threatening finger at his siblings, "Hey hush up you spoiled brats your lucky I am doing this for you."

Rory and Vick chuckled and I merely smiled. Posy was silent next to me. She watched in excitement as her big brother pulled the cheese buns off the pan and placed them onto a plate. Gale picked up the plate and set it in the middle of the table. The cheese buns looked incredibly gross, I picked on up and examined it, It smelled horrible and if Peeta was here he would be horrified at what Gale has done to this bread. I place the bun back on the plate not wanting to look at it or touch it. We were silent for a couple minutes before Gale broke that silence with an annoying, none of his business question.

"Where were you Catnip?"

"I went to see my mother at the hospital" I quickly lied.

Gale raised his eyes brows, crossed his hands over his chest and frowned. "Your mother is here, she is upstairs in her room. She just got home from a long days work and asked where you were"

Crap I really needed to think up a better excuse.

"You really want to know?"

He nods, "Yes"

"I was talking to Hass" I replied honestly. and at the train station buying a ticket I added mentally.

Gale frowned, "Really Catnip really. You can't just leave that dude alone" he spat.

"No I guess I can't and you know why I can't jus leave him alone"

"Why!" He spat.

"Because he saved my life and he reminds me of Finnick" I hiss.

"You know Finnick, the man that help me get by when Peeta was captured in the capitol. Finnick the man who would never think twice about interfering with anything I do or say. He reminds me of Finnick. The man that was my best friend until those damn mutts came up and took his life, leaving the mother of his child shattered and the baby fatherless"

"I'm sorry Catnip I didn't..."

"Your always sorry Gale"

"Why are you bringing him up?" Gale asked.

His words set me off, "Just because Finnick has been dead for five years does not mean we should not think about him or remember him"

Gale rolled his eyes, "Well Hass is a weird individual. He is hardly like Finnick"

I sigh in anger and rise from my chair. I have had enough of Gale's mouth for one day. I walk out of the kitchen and up the stairs to pack my things. If only Gale knew that Hass and I were planning a trip to the capitol; he'd blow a gasket. He would really tie me to the bed and make me miss that train if he knew I was going with that stranger. I pushed opened my door and glanced around the room. How was I going to do this. How was I going to pack without him knowing, worst of all how was I going to escape my own house.

To be Continued...


	7. Information Mutts

Hello Whats up guys, I know its been awhile since I last updated and I can honestly say that it because of my work, they are making me work 48 hours a week and I hate it, plus I have a horrible addiction to World of warcraft to deal with which I barely have time to play that either. So blame the cones I have to pack on the late updates. But I promise I will not give up on this story you have my word. It just may take a longer time than fire and flames. I will finish it and for those of you that want Peeta to find out what my O/C character York did to Katniss, well your all gonna have to wait hehe. Please read and review this next chapter.

Chapter 7

Information Mutt

(Peeta's POV)

I was somewhat nervous and somewhat distracted to pay attention to Effie and Haymitch's conversation with Paylor. We all were sitting in a huge conference room with cups of coffee sitting in front of us and plates of poorly cooked sugar cookies. Paylor listened to Haymitch very closely as he explained to her what my condition was and how we were desperate to go through old capitol files and find anything in the old information that would help me find a cure. She had assured us all the mutts were destroyed, that there was not a single one of them left to examine. We just needed files, information, anything that would help me. I just wanted help. I needed help and this place was the key to my recovery, the place where it all began. My key back to Katniss, I was not going back to her until every piece of venom was out of my mind, until my murderous thoughts were gone. I loved her to much to kill her.I flickered my eyes up from the spot on the table I was focusing on and gazed at Paylor with such a desperate expression. She has changed in the last couple of years, her hair was turning a gray color and she had so many bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. I could see why she got no sleep. I would not be able to sleep if I had the reasonability of running a country and fearing for my life. It was a horrible thing to fear for your life, not knowing when someone is going to come up and snatch it away. I bet that was what she was feeling. I was just about to open my mouth and say something when the doors opened and a young man by the age of at least 29 came strolling in with his hands folded. He was medium height, very thin, brown hair and his eyes were all too familiar.

"President, They are ready for you" He says.

Paylor holds up her hand to silence him. "Give me a minute Wadera"

"But madam they need you now" Wadera challenged.

"I said in a minute" She snaps softly.

He gives her a distasteful look and nods his head slowly and I began to tell he is irritated by her words, but does not say anything. He stands there with a straight face until his eyes rest on me, that is when I see his hands start to form a fist, his jaw tightened and his eyes became darker. What in the world was wrong with this guy? What did I do? I brushed his odd behavior off and focused my attention on Paylor-who was once again talking with Effie and Haymitch giving them the location of the abandoned warehouse, where the information was kept. The building was waiting to be destroyed but she said we could go through it before the building was sent up into flames. She was going to postpone it. I could not get over the feeling that this whole thing was a waste of time, That Katniss was right, there was no cure. What if she was right? What if I was stuck like this for the rest of my life. No I had to think positive. There was something out there that had to of helped me. I just couldn't find it yet.

We did not have to talk with Paylor for very long, she gave us permission and was out of sight before I even had time to blink. The one called Wadera stayed behind and escorted us out of the building. The whole way down to the lower level; He never took his eyes off of me. It was really nerve racking in a way. I wanted him to stop, look the other way, focus on something other than me. I turned to Effie and Haymitch hoping they would see what he was doing. They were too busy chatting about the location of the warehouse. Why was this guy taking his good time in staring at me. Who was he? an assistant of Paylor that was who he was. We all exited the building and into the capitol. Wadera smiled at me,nodded his head and finally vanished from my sight. A sense of relief washed over me as that man finally tore his eyes away from me. I slid into the back seat of the car, it was going to take us to that abandoned building that Paylor and them were discussing. I really hoped for my sake and for everyone else that there was something out there that was going to help me in some sort of way. I sat in the back of the car next to Haymitch, he seemed to sense my slight feeling of being uncomfortable.

"What's wrong boy?"

"Nothing" I lie.

Haymitch rises his brow then chuckles, "Wadera stares at everyone, he is probably trying to figure you out" since when did Haymitch become such a little mind reader. I ignored his comments and turned to face the incredibly large city that was zooming by with such speed. The clouds over our heads looked like they were about to burst with the tears of the heavens. I hated the loud, but yet soft patting of rain as it spilled from above. I hated the rain and the storms for multiple reasons; not just because of the first arena where Katniss and I hid in our cave and watched it downpour. Haymitch's voice suddenly brought me out of my thoughts about rain and back into the hostile reality.

"I hope you know when we get there you are mine boy" He says slowly.

"Meaning?" I ask confused.

"I meant what I said about provoking you into having as many episodes as you can" He says.

I sigh heavily to myself. The last thing I wanted to do was fall into an episode. I hated the feeling I would get when my mind goes to the memories of Katniss trying to kill me, of watching her try to kill my family and friends. I knew after it all happens that it is not real, but at the time I cannot sort reality and fantasy out. At least Katniss was way out of my reach. I would not have to worry about hurting her. But what if I hurt someone else like Effie or Haymitch. I knew I wouldn't; the capitol strictly designed me to take out Katniss and Katniss only.

"How will you do it?" I ask.

"Do what?" Haymitch answers with a question.

"The episodes. How will I fall into one without Katniss?"

"I have my ways boy, but I will tell you this. No matter what I do to you in there, no matter what I say to you, no matter what I say about Katniss; you got to remember I am doing this because I..." His face reddened and he runs a hand through his hair.

"You what?" I encourage him to finish his sentence.

"Iloveyouguys" He says and his words are so jumbled together that I have a hard time making them out and so does Effie-who is sitting quietly beside him staring out the window. She is wearing a bright pink outfit that matched her wig. I really wish she would stop wearing such horrible clothes. why couldn't she wear a normal pair of jeans, a nice blue shirt and some high heels would do her nicely. She did not have to go all out like this.

"What was that" I teased, making him repeat his words had to be a pain in the ass.

"You heard me" Haymitch sneers, blush forming even more on his face. Soon his cheeks, ears and whole face is turning pink from his comment.

"Please repeat" I encouraged him more.

"Okay fine if I do will you shut up?"

I chuckled and nodded.

"I love you guys. Okay there I said it" Haymitch blurts out.

Effie sighs in an awe, I wink at Haymitch and turned my attention to the city, which was now flashing by. The driver of our car was on the outskirts of the capitol in less than forty-five minutes. By that time the sky opened up and it began to downpour. We drove for another couple of minutes before coming to a stop at a large white building, it looked rundown, old, something from a horror film. The driver parked it next to the front door and handed us the keys.

"Effie,would you mind heading back to the city?" Haymitch asks in a professional tone of voice. Why he used that tone of voice with her was a complete mystery, but she did not seemed to like it. She folded her arms over her chest and shot Haymitch a scolding look.

"Why would you allow me to come all the way out here only to send me back?" She hissed.

"I will try to bring out the dangerous side of Peeta. You never know what he is capable of" Haymitch tells her.

"I wouldn't hurt Effie" I say suddenly.

But they ignore me and a large smile spreads across her face. "Awe Haymitch I knew you cared about me and not that thing"

Haymitch frowns and glares daggers at her, "Nah I just don't want to clean up the mess if Peeta somehow manages to wring your neck" With that said Haymitch opens the car door and heads out into the rainy storm towards the buildings front door leaving Effie dumbstruck. She folded her hands over her chest pouted and mumbled something that sound like 'I hope Peeta rips your things off' or something like that. These two really had to stop going at each others throats like this. It was all very tiring and annoying, but that was what happens when you got stuck in a love triangle; just ask Katniss. I knew she figured out her feelings for Gale, but it took a lot of energy and time to sort the love triangle out and of course she picked me. She would pick me over him any day. I don't mean to brag. Well yeah I do, I do not like Gale at all I only tolerate him. I shot Effie an apologetic look, push opened the car door and follow Haymitch out into the cold rainy day. The car zoomed away leaving me standing outside in the rainy, getting soaked from head to toe. Haymitch fumbled with the keys that Paylor gave us for a second and then finally was able to push open the steel door. I entered the dark building and shook the droplets of water out of my blond hair.

"Alright boy lets do this" He says.

We walk down the long narrow hallways there are at least three doors on our left side, four on our right. We enter the first door on our left and it is nothing but an empty space. The second one was empty as well, but the third one contain so many files, folders, books, there was a computer that had a busted screen, a broken chair and white peacekeeper uniforms. There was so many things scattered all over the place that it was going to take more than a couple days to go through them which was impossible because Paylor had this thing scheduled to go up into flames. Destroying the last piece of the old capitol seemed like a good thing to do in her eyes.

"Where should we start" I ask Haymitch.

"Well you go through the files and I'll be sitting right there" He pointed to an old dusty couch. I watched him plop down on it and rummage through the inside of his coat pocket. He brought out a small sliver bottle of liquor and set it on the table in front of him. He stared at it, popped open the lid, inhaled its intoxicating scent. I thought he quit. He brought the bottle up to his lips and for a second there I thought he was going to take a sip, but he merely smelled it again and tossed it to the side, the bottle rattled to the floor and Haymitch leaned back on the dusty couch, bringing his feet up on the coffee table. His eyes met mine and he raised a brow.

"What are you staring at get to work" He ordered.

"Avara would be proud of you" I grinned.

"Yeah, Yeah now get to work boy" He says waving me off.

I sigh and began going through the capitols things as Haymitch closes his eyes and falls asleep. He came all the way here for a nap? Boy I had every intentions of dumping a bottle of water on his head. I pushed those the thoughts of pissing off Haymitch out of my head and scooped up a couple handfuls of papers. This place reminded me so much of the hall of tributes or memorial station; whatever it was called. I wanted to go back there and go through more tribute files, but that crazy old lady that attacked me was still probably pissed that I stole Katniss's folder, which was by the way still laying under my pillow in the hotel room. I took the time in reading the papers in front of me. There were names of people who were peacekeepers, the list seemed to go on and on, it took up at least 67 pieces of white papers. There were names of peacekeepers in training, Avoxs and so much more. I scanned the avoxs list. So many people who had disobeyed the capitol and suffered for it. It was horrible how they had lost their ability to speak just because they disobeyed Snow.

I set the list of avoxs down and picked up another list. This one was just a bunch of numbers and it made entirely no sense to me. I moved around the room, examining everything and anything that I could get my hands on. Finally after an hour and a half of digging around in the papers I found what I was looking for. The Mutts. Well not the correct Tracker Jacker Mutt information, but it was a start. I stared at the picture for a long while looking into the mutts beady little eyes. It was candy pink and had an incredibly long beak. Giant bird mutt, I recognized this from Haymitch's games, this was the creature that killed Haymitch's partners during his games. It pierced her and Haymitch held her hand as she died.

I went through just about every single folder on mutts, there was Jabberjays, Wolf creatures, Special Butterfly breed, Golden Squirrels, Monkey creatures, Lizard mutts and just about everything that they capitol has ever made or tried to make. Everything except Tracker jacker. I became frustrated and threw the folders halfway across the room, it slammed against the wall loudly and papers scattered the ground. Haymitch awoke from a dead sleep and glanced around the room. His eyes rested on me and he saw my anger.

"What is wrong boy?" He asks stretching his arms over his head.

"There is not a damn thing in this whole building!" I snapped.

Haymitch rises from the couch and approaches me. "You don't know that"

I frown, "Yes I do know that" I kick over a large stack of folders, my anger was really getting the best of me and soon I started taking handful of papers and throwing them around the room, ripping them, yelling, screaming how much I hated this place, how much I hated my damn life. I started towards the computer having every intentions in lifting it and throwing it against the wall, but before I could approach it Haymitch grabbed both my upper arms and threw me to the ground.

"knock it off now!" he hissed.

"There is nothing here I should of known. Now I'm going to have to stay away from her for good" I shout out and rise to my feet. I swung my fists and punched the wall hard until the skin between my knuckles cracked and small amounts of blood began to trickle between my fingers. I don't know why my sudden outburst of anger, maybe because I knew there was no hope for me, maybe because I was impatient and wanted to find something, anything that would help me. There had to be something, this was a large building. Haymitch grabbed my hand before I could damage my knuckles anymore.

"Stop it boy, now" He says and effortlessly tosses me to the ground again.

"There...there...I hate this...place...nothing here" I pant out.

"This is a big building. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself, stop acting like a fricking two year old, man up and open your damn eyes"

"There is nothing here that will help me" I say and I know its true.

"Do you love Katniss?" He asks randomly.

"How does that have..." He cuts me off by yanking the front of my shirt and pulling me to my feet.

"Answer the question Do you love her?"

"Yes"

"Do you want to kiss her?"

"Yes"

"Do you want to hold her?"

"Yes!"

"Do you want to marry her!"

"Yes Dammit!" I shout.

I knew what he was trying to do and it was working. Katniss was my motivation and Haymitch was using her against me so I would not give up the search so easily and so early on in the journey. We were silent for the longest time, I looked down at my enraged knuckles and wiped the small amount of blood on my pant leg. Katniss would be really angry with me if she knew I had just inflicted pain on myself. I just could not help it sometimes. I hated this world, my life sometimes so much that the only way for me to deal with it is hit things. It just makes me feel better.

"Do you want to hurt her?" He mumbles.

"No" I mutter.

"Okay then if you love her, want to hold her, kiss her and marry her then I suggest you search a little harder than that otherwise you will not be able to do any of those things without the threat of hurting her."

"I'm sorry" I mumbled.

"For what?" Haymitch asks.

"For being a jerk. I dragged you out here to this horrible place to find a cure and here I am the one giving up so easily" I place my fingertips against my temples and rub in frustration, "You just don't get how much I love her, how much I need to find something so quickly. It is literally killing me from the inside out being away from her like this. I can't do this Haymitch, I can't stand being away from her like this. I haven't had a decent night sleep since we got here. I can't eat right and all I think about is her and how much I have hurt her. How much I hate myself for hurting her and killing our baby. I don't deserve her Haymitch I really don't..." I sigh and place my hand against my face. "I'm alone in this" I mutter.

Haymitch snickers, "Your not alone in this kid."

"I hope your right" I say.

We spent another couple of hours in this room and found nothing on the wasp or the venom. I tried not to get angry but it was extremely hard not to. We moved from room to room, scanning everything, nothing caught our eye. After hours of searching I gave up, returned to the first room and took a seat on the couch with my head in my hands. It was official I was not going to find anything I was not going to go back to Katniss like this. The odds of finding a cure were not in my favor, this whole trip was a waste of time. It was possible I was giving up to easy, maybe Haymitch was right, I had to fight harder in order to get what I wanted.

I rise from my sitting position on the couch and began picking up The mess I have left on the floor, the papers I threw around earlier still scattered the entire room. I scooped them all up and gently placed them neatly in their proper position. Haymitch reenters the room with a smirk on his face and a folder in one hand. He holds it up and lets it dangle in front of me.

"What's that?" I ask. He toss it and it lands on the couch. I am quick it in retrieving it. I scoop it up and began reading. It is information about the wasps not much but it is a start. I was one step closer to finding my cure. Although this was not much to go off of; it was just information.

"Did you bring your torture disk?" Haymitch asks me.

I nod my head and dig through my pants pockets to retrieve it. I handed it to him and he grabs it out of my hands and examines it.

"There is a television room down the hallway, We need to watch it" He says.

"Why?" I frowned. I did not want to watch it, I did not want to watch the man that brought me such nightmares torture me, brainwash me into killing the woman I loved. I got up from my sitting position and followed Haymitch out of the room and down the long narrow hallway. A chilly draft made its way up my arms, I shivered and rubbed the goose bumps away. We entered the last room on the left, it had a large old dusty TV in the middle of the room, an old couch, chair and multiple shelves of video tapes. The capitol did love to film things. I bet most of these tapes were from the hunger games. I plopped down on the old couch and waited for Haymitch to pop the disk into the black player that was connected to the TV What did he mean to accomplish by making me watch this. I did know he wanted to provoke me in probably the worst way possible.

We began watching the disk and immediately my stomach become knots, my palms are sweaty and the mere sight of the man dressed in the suit with white wave hair causes me severe discomfort. I wanted to puke at the sight of him. I never want to remember his horrible face, his twisted smile, his breath that smelled like blood and roses or that was what Katniss said it smelled like. I had forgotten Katniss had watched parts of this, Up until he threatened me with the green bottle of liquid that was not the tracker jacker venom, but FALSE poison. By presenting me with this bottle of false poison he had hoped I would spill something about the rebels that at the time I Knew nothing about. I sat there on the couch, eyes glued to the TV, watching the peacekeepers beat the living hell out of me on that screen. Was it really this bad, I could not bring myself to watch the whole entire thing, but sitting here with Haymitch next to me, he was not going to allow me to turn away.

For a couple hours all they did was beat me, punch me, kick me, lash me across the face with a piece of whipping rope. I touched the barely visible scar of the left side on my cheek and remembered the stinging feel the rope made as it came into contact with my cheek. I couldn't do this anymore I had to get out of here. I bolt straight up from the couch nearly causing Haymitch to have a heart attack.

"Boy where are you going?" He asks.

"I can't relive this again" I say and head for the door, But Haymitch was off the couch and approached me, grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me across the room. "We are just getting to the good part"

"What! The good part!" I shout fiercely, "They are about to ruin my life forever and you think that is good" I could not believe what Haymitch just said, I could of not been more angrier than I was now at that moment.

"Yeah its awesome the way they shoved that shit into your brain. I wish they would of video taped you strangling the life out of Katniss." He smiles.

"What the hell is wrong with you Haymitch!" I scream.

I shoved Haymitch off of me and proceeded to exit the room. Then it hit me that he was provoking me, trying to make me fall into the capitols world. I stopped dead in my tracks and gazed into Haymitch's eyes, they were full of sorrow. I turn slowly back towards the door and just as I was about to do so Haymitch started talking again.

"It should of been Katniss, not you" He blurts out which that triggers my rage even more. I turn away from the door and bolt towards him, my fists are swinging and I have every intentions of hurting this old man in front of me. I was about to hit him in the face but he effortlessly tossed me to the ground for the thousandth time today. The back of my head hit the floor and I saw stars for a brief moment. Haymitch was hovering over me with a forced grin on his face. He kept talking.

"Now that were alone and Katniss is out of sight I can really tell you how I feel about her" Haymitch says pulling me to my feet. I take a swing at him but he grabs my fist into his large palm and squeezes. For an older man he sure did have a lot of strength. "I hate her and wanted nothing more than to see her die in the first games"

"Stop it" I place my hands over my ears and tried to drown out his voice.

"I hate her because she killed your family Peeta"

"NO SHUT UP!"

"She tried to kill you"

"Please Haymitch stop" I begged and dropped to my knees.

"She left you in the arena to die while they rescued her and not you. She hates you Peeta"

"S-She L-loves me" I stammer.

Haymitch snorts, "She uses you to get what she wants."

"STOP IT!"

"She killed your family"

Yes. Yes. She did she killed mom, dad, Vex, and Bartz. She tried to kill me with her bare hands. Yes, yes that was what she did I had to stay on the alert, I look up at this person in front of me and backed away as far from him as possible. He...was with her, I-I-I needed to escape him and find my people. Who were my people? Where have they gone? They were the only ones that I could trust. Suddenly Haymitch slaps me across the face gently and I can no longer control my anger. My thoughts were clear as to what I needed to do. I had to find Katniss Everdeen and kill her for all the pain and misery she has caused me. I remember now, her hands around my throat, the knife sliding into my brothers chest. I know my thoughts, I know my thoughts I know them. I need to find the only person I could trust. Who was that? Snow yes the president said he would never hurt me like Katniss did. He was my friend right? I remember him being...I don't know.

"Where is he?" I question.

"Who boy?" Haymitch asks evilly. I can't trust him he is with her. I knew he would do anything for that little bitch that killed my family. That little mutt that used me then tried to kill me. He knew who I was talking about, he was just playing dumb.

"Where is he?" I repeated the question.

"Who?

"Snow, Mr. Snow" I mutter to myself. He must of heard me because he snickers.

"Did he say anything to you?" Haymitch questions.

"He said Katniss tried to kill me and hurt me and that the capitol was going to protect me."

"Anything else?"

I thought real hard but nothing came up. I was sick and tired of wasting my time talking to one of Katniss's people. I had to do something and quick before this man tried to kill me. Haymitch Abernathy, I remember he is...my thoughts are confusing me. Suddenly a wave of sickness strikes me and I lean over and vomit in the corner of the room. My head is pounding and I suddenly become aware that Haymitch is hovering over me again. He is making his move, I am at my most vulnerable state.

"Kill me quick" I tell him, "I wont give her that satisfaction"

"You have been poisoned Peeta" He tells me. I shake my head and vomit again. Haymitch picks me up by my shirt collar and drags me across the room and flings me on the couch. My head hurts so bad that I feel like it is going to explode. My skull hurts, everything inside my head hurts. Then things start to happen, memories that don't make sense start to surface. I am kissing her. The mutt. Why am I doing it. I feel sick again and this time instead of throwing up on the floor Haymitch hands me a trash can.

"What do you remember?"

"She killed Vex, slit his throat and I am kissing her for it. Why am I kissing her for it?" I scream. I am rising my voice which only makes my head hurt worse.

"Try to remember anything you can Peeta anything at all."

I close my eyes, why am I doing this, why am I listening to a man who is my enemy, who belongs to the group of people who are my enemies. My mine flashes and I can see the bitch grinning at me with blood on her face and a knife with my brothers blood coated on it in her hand. I'm confused because next I see her laying on soft bed, I am on top of her, she is kissing me so passionately; her hands are clawing at my bare exposed back. No No, this is fake I would never have sex with her. The thoughts become so overwhelming and so horrible that all I want to do is make them go away. I drop off the couch and onto my knees on the floor where I proceed in bashing my head off the hard ground until there is blood coming from my head. Haymitch stops me from hurting myself and forces me to stop.

"Remember Peeta that night where the capitol beat you. Did they say anything about any venom"

"Do I love her?" I blurt out the question. The memory of us making love is getting stronger, and I soon realize there in nothing threatening about the girl on fire. My head hurts so bad that the last thing I remember before passing out cold is her sweet voice filling my head and telling me how much she loves me. I don't remember how long I have been out for but when I wake up Haymitch is sitting in the chair, his eyes glued on the television screen in front of him. As soon as he caught sight of me lift my head up off the couch he turns off the TV.

"How are you feeling boy?" He asks.

"Like hell" I reply.

"Do you remember anything?" He questions.

I shook my head honestly. "No nothing. Did I say anything?"

Haymitch was silent, he bit his lip and set his jaw.

"Anything at all about the venom?"

"No, but don't worry that won't be the only time I force you into an episode." He says.

"Did I hurt you?"

He shakes his head, "You mostly tried to hurt yourself, by the way I think we are even now. You cleaned vomit off of me and I clean yours up off the floor. That was pretty disgusting"

"Well it was nasty taking care of you that day you puked on yourself and I had to clean you up and put you to bed"

He smiled widely at the memory then his face became serious. "Do you want to try again?"

"No I am really tired and to tell you the truth I want to call and hear Katniss's voice." I mumble.

"Do you think that is wise?"

I shrug, "No, but right now I just need to hear her"

"God boy your too much in love with her"

"I know"

Haymitch and I spent another half hour in the building going through folders and papers before the car arrived and took us back to the capitol. The rain had not let up and it was pouring twice as hard now. I slide into the back seat of the car with my hands holding my throbbing head. I wanted to go back to the hotel room, lay on my bed, fish out Katniss's tribute file and call her. I needed to hear her voice. Its been weeks since I have left her at the train station. The car zoomed down the slick road and sometime during the journey back to the hotel room I closed my eyes and drifted into a deep sleep. I wasn't asleep for long because the next thing I know Haymitch is shaking me awake and the car is stopped in front of our hotel building. I am exhausted, my head still throbs, I make my way upstairs and into our room. Haymitch decides to stay downstairs in the lobby and eat dinner. He ask me to join him and Effie which I don't. I have more important things to do. I kick off my shoes and lay on the nice comfortable bed.

My hands slid under my pillow and I pull out Katniss's tribute file, pulling off the tiny little picture I take the time and examine every inch of it. She is so beautiful. My fiancee, my whole world, my everything. I lean over and pull the phone off the nightstand. I punch in a few numbers and allow the phone to ring, it rings twice before she answers it. She sounds so drained and I began to think maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Finally I find the courage to speak.

"Katniss?"

There is excitement in her voice. _"Oh god Peeta?"_

"Hey"

_"Peeta, Are you alright"_

"Yes Katniss. I'm fine" I won't tell her about my forced episode today. It has been a couple days since I last called her or even talked to her. The last time I called she hung up on me for reasons that are unknown.

"_Peeta last time you called me...I didn't hang up on you. That was Gale I am so sorry if you thought it was me. I would never hang up on you_." I should of known Gale would do something like that. He really did irritate the hell out of me.

I ignore her comment and say, "I love you"

"_I love you too and I miss you so much_"

We were silent for a good while before she breaks the silence.

_"Are you coming back to me?"_

"Not any time soon. I don't want you near me when this poison is inside of me"

I can hear her voice crack as she talks, "_You don't even know how bad I need you right now. How much I need to kiss you or to have you hold me. God Peeta you just...you don't even know_"

"I can imagine" I smile.

We were silent again then she spoke, "_Tell me you love me again_"

"I do Katniss I love you so much"

"_I would kiss you so hard right now if it wasn't for this distance that separated us"_

We chatted for a good hour before I heard footsteps on the other end. Katniss voice faded as someone took the phone out of her hand. I could hear her cries of protest and suddenly her voice vanished. I was empty now, I wanted whoever took that phone off of her to give it back to her.

"_Mellark_" God what did he want.

"Give the phone back to her Gale" I say harshly.

"_I will but there is something I have to tell you_" Gale says.

"What!" I spat out.

"_You know your worker from the bakery the blonde one that has the hots for you?"_

"Yes" I say slowly. I was unsure as to why in the world Gale was brining up Ceal again. I knew the two of them got into a fight, god only knows what else had happened between them and I am not sure I want to know.

"_Her brother York tried to rape Katniss because of the fight his sister and Katniss had_." Gale words pierced my ears and anger filled my entire body. Some sick and twisted person put their hands on her. I was the only person allowed to touch her in that way. I couldn't get the disturbing image of her thrashing against the large mans grip. He was dead and I mean it. I'm going to cut his boys off and then I am going to wrap my hands around his neck and snap it.

"WHAT!" I scream in Gale's ear.

"_Don't blow a blood vessel Mellark I am telling you this because when you come home you need to knock the shit out of him_"

"I plan on it Gale I do" I say seriously.

I was going to take my time with Ceal's brother York I was going to put all my hate and anger when I beat the hell out of him. Usually I did not have murderous thoughts in a normal state of mind, but right now I could not wait until my hands were around his neck and the light left his eyes.

to be continued...


	8. Trains and District 11

I am so sorry this took so long. I am so sick I have a very bad case of the flu and I have been doing nothing but laying around the house for the past couple of days. Its horrible feeling this way I even had to call off of work its so bad, but the story must be written and I promised I would update no matter what so here you go hope you like it. Please ignore the misspelled words of grammar error. I wrote this while running a fever. :(

Chapter 8

Trains and District 11

(Katniss's POV)

I'm pissed at him again for telling Peeta all about the thing that happened with York and his friends. I know for a fact that when and if Peeta gets home he would go after that group that tried to hurt me. Which I did not mind at all, someone needed to put them in their place, but I did not want Peeta to go as far as killing York for what he has done. I sat up stairs on my large bed with my kneel drawn to my chest and this nervous feeling spreading across my body. Today was the day I would board the train that left in a couple hours. I would board it and it will take me to Peeta. I knew he was going to be pissed at me for coming all this way to join him on his quest, but there was no way he would deny me after traveling long, tiring miles to get to him. I didn't care what he said he needed me, we needed each other, we were doing this together weather he liked it or not. Peeta was stubborn yes, but so was I. I would not go down without a fight and neither would he. I was so happy yesterday when he called , to hear his voice, to know he was alright brought me complete joy. Although that joy was stomped to the ground when Gale yanked the phone off of me and told Peeta all about York and his gang of friends trying to rape me. I was nervous for him to come home to District 12, nervous that he was going to actually go through with murder. Then again I thought Gale was going to do it, obviously he did not have the nerves, either that or it was because Delly was with him that night. I knew how mad Peeta could get and all I had to say was if he did come home and inflicted some physical damage on York, sucks to be him.

I draped my legs over the side of the bed, my feet touched the ground and I began pacing back and fourth across the carpet. Hass should of contacted me by now and told me he had bought a ticket. That way I knew for sure he was coming with me. I guess in a way I needed someone to come with me, Anxiety filled my entire body as I paced back and fourth, finally I had enough and stalked downstairs to see what Delly and Gale were doing. I carefully walked down the flight of stairs, my nostrils were greeted with the heavenly scent of pancakes or waffles. One of those two I didn't pay attention. I walked into the kitchen and nearly choked at what I saw. Delly was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs, Gale was leaning over her and they were kissing. Holy god I knew there was something going on between the two of them. Delly's eyes flickered opened and as soon as they rested on me she pulled away from him and turned a deep shade of red. Gale let go of her so fast it was like she had stuck a knife in his gut that was how fast he pushed her away.

"D-did I miss something?" I muttered.

"M-Morning Katniss" Delly stammered, ignoring my question completely.

"Morning" I say as casuallyas possible and took a seat next to her. I could care less that I had just walked in on them kissing. It was actually a relief for me that Gale was moving onto someone else. Peeta was going to be pissed about it, but I'd make him get over it and understand.

"Sleep well?" Delly asks me.

"Not really" I reply. I never sleep well. The only time I ever sleep good is when Peeta is sleeping next to me, being wrapped in his arms helps chase the nightmares away. I stand up and moved around the kitchen, grabbing a cup of coffee, and a large pancake that was sitting on a platter. Gale still would not make eye contact with me. He just stood there flipping the pancakes and watching the butter in the bottom of the pan bubble.

"Hey hot lips make me a big one" I say aloud so both of them could hear me. It was funny seeing both their faces turn different shades of red. Oh I was going to have fun with this, but only for a couple hours. In a couple hours I was going to drug their coffee with smashed sleeping pills and lay the two of them on the couch while Hass and I catch the first train out of here. Speaking of Hass, there was a knock on the door and I bolted into the living room and pulled it opened. Hass's seam gray eyes met mine and he smiled warmly.

"Am I late for breakfast?" He asked with a smile.

"Right on time actually. Gale the groper is cooking pancakes" I say and step sideways to allow him to enter.

I'm not a groper!" Gale hissed from the kitchen.

"Say what?" Hass chuckled and lifted an eyebrow.

"I caught these two going at it on the kitchen table." I mutter lowly.

"Ugh Really. That's sort of nasty" Hass mumbles.

I shake my head, "No they weren't doing anything but kissing and I am going to make fun of them for it"

Hass looked away from me and stalked into the kitchen I could not help but check out his appearance he really was an attractive man. The slick black hair, the odd gray eyes, the muscles. He was beautiful. I shut the door behind him trapping the cold air outside. Snow was still on the ground and the wind that was blowing caused it to swirl high in the sky. As we entered the kitchen Gale's eyes flickered up from the pan to meet Hass's gray ones. Gale let out an irritated growl as Hass took his place next to Delly and flashed her a warm smile. Delly smiled back at him and then her eyes went to Gale and the two of them stared at each other hard. I didn't know what was going on between the two of them, why I found them kissing in the kitchen, why I found them sleeping in the same bed together, but Gale better hope to god he was not just using her for some strange sick purpose. If that was case I was really going to kill him. He had no business using a sweet innocent girl like Delly just so he could get over me. I took my place beside Hass and shot him a questionable look. I really wanted to find out if he had gone through with buying that train ticket or not. I could not ask him right in front of these two . I'd have to be patient and wait for them to pass out due to the sleep pill I was going to drug their drink with.

"So Hass do you like hot chocolate?" I ask with a calm smile.

"Oh no I cannot drink it" He replied and turned to Delly, "How about you miss?"

Delly giggled, "I do actually"

"Me too I love the warm slick feeling you get when it runs down your throat and warms your entire face" He lightly flirted. He leaned over and gently tucked the loose strand of hair that was in her face behind her ear. Delly blushed violently. I watched him wink at me and then gaze up at Gale who was watching his every move. Hass was doing it on purpose to mess with Gale.

"Delly come help me with something" Gale immediately said aloud. This brought Delly out of her trance, her eyes flickered in Gale's direction and she calmly got up from the chair and headed in the direction of Gale- who had his back to us now and was leaning over the pan cooking more pancakes. Hass glanced over his shoulder and made sure their back remained towards us. He winked again, dipped his hand into the inside of his pocket and pulled the small piece of paper that was the train ticket halfway out of his pocket so it was visible for me to see. He did it, the stranger actually did it, he was going to the capitol with me and there was no changing that. All that was left to do was drug their cups with sleeping pills, finish packing and board the train that would be leaving in about an hour or so. I could hardly believe this was happening.

"Delly? Gale?" I called out their names in almost a whisper.

They looked up at me with questionable looks on their faces. I took a moment to study the two of them side by side. They really did look cute together. The only problem was he was so much taller than her. But that was not an issue I thought it was really hot for a guy to be a lot taller than a girl. Peeta was a lot taller than me and I loved it, I did not like how I sometimes had to stand on my tiptoes to kiss him.

"Did you want something Katniss?" Delly questions.

I cleared my throat and spoke calmly. "Yeah I just wanted the two of you to sit down and take a break. You guys have been so good in taking care of me that I want to return the favor by making you nice hot chocolate."

Delly's eyes widen with excitement "I love hot chocolate."

Gale raises a brow at me. "Are you alright catnip?"

"Yes why wouldn't I be"

"Because your offering us hot chocolate" He points out.

"So What wrong with that" I fire at him.

He shakes his head and waves his hand in front of him, "Nothing its just not like you"

I smirk and slid out of my chair to get started on making the drink that would ensure my trip would go on without interruption. Hass, Gale and Delly all gathered around the table while I prepared the fabulous drink. It took me about 12 minutes before the drink was ready, I stared at the three cups then glanced over my shoulder to make sure that nobody was paying the slightest attention to me. They were all talking and chatting about different things. I slowly dipped my hand into the kitchen cabinet beside me and pulled out two small looking sleeping pills, usually I took these to help me sleep during the night, but they never work the only time I can sleep is when Peeta wraps his arms around me, kisses me and tells me I have nothing to worry about that the nightmare is over that nobody can hurt me. I calmly began to crush the pills, sweat poured down my forehead and palms. I cant believe I was drugging my friends just so I could leave district 12 with a stranger. I felt like I could trust Hass anyway so I guess there was no threat in going with him. The only real thing I knew about him was his father was a victor in the games, met his mother on the victory tour and they were both dead. I feel for him I really do I know what it is like to lose a parent. Hell I basically lost both of mine. Even here in district 12 my mother still seems able to stay far away from me. Not like I care I have Peeta and that is all I really need in life.

"Having trouble over there catnip?" Came Gale's voice. If he stood up it was all over because I was in the process of crushing two more pills slyly with a kitchen knife. I used the blade of the knife to turn the pills into powder.

"I'm fine" I assure him and increase my speed in cutting them.

"What are you doing?" He asks and my heart started pounding in my chest.

"Making you and Delly hot chocolate." I say.

I glanced over my shoulder, his eyes were boring into my back, Could he see what I was doing to his drink? Would he even drink it afterwards. All these thoughts and concerns buzzed through my head non-stop. I bit my lip and as quickly and as calmly as I could I scooped the white powder off the counter and sprinkled it in Gale and Delly's cup. I watched as the powder floated at the top of the cup for a couple seconds then vanish beneath the liquid. I took both cups in my hands and placed one by Delly and one by Gale. I turned to Hass to find him staring anxiously at the cups. Well I had to make it look good.

"You want some Hass?" I ask.

"OH no thank you I am deathly allergic to chocolate." He rejects.

"Well in that case take a sip of my hot chocolate" Gale mumbled, his voice was so low, I don't think he intended for anyone to hear him say that, but I heard it and so did Delly. Both Delly and I slapped the back of Gale's head at the same time and shot him a scolding look. Gale rolled his eyes and took a huge gulp of chocolate and so did Delly. I slid into a chair next to Hass and watched my friends inhale the deadly hot chocolate I gave them. They were going to be extremely angry with me when they woke up safe and sound on the couch. I was not going to carry them up those steps and into the bedroom. The couch would do just fine. Besides they would only be out for a couple of hours. No harm No foul.

"Why aren't you drinking any Catnip?" Gale asks me.

"Not thirsty" I replied immediately.

Delly and Gale drank the large cups dry. Now all that was left to do was wait for their eyes to close and their heads to hit the table which wasn't long after they drank their beverage. Almost at the same time their heads hit the table top and light snore filled the room. They were going to be so mad at me, thank goodness I was going to be hundreds of miles away when they woke up otherwise their deadly words would hit me hard. I quickly bolted to my feet and stared at Hass.

"I can't lift them" I say.

"No problem umm..." He placed a finger against his lips and tapped it multiple times.

"What are you doing?" I questions becoming impatient with him.

"You need a nickname" Hass says and scoops Delly up into his arms effortlessly.

"No Not another one. Gale calls me Catnip and my boyfriend calls me Kat and my mentor calls me sweetheart. You can just call me Katniss" I said. He sets Delly right side up on the couch and placed her head at the arm. Then he stalked back across the room to fetch Gale. Before he grabbed hold of Gale, he snapped his fingers and gave me a big wide smile which can only mean one thing, he thought up of a nickname.

"I am going to call you kitty from now on" He smiles.

"Seriously?"

Why not" He grins.

I sigh and watch him position Gale on the couch next to Delly. He positioned Gale so Gale's back was against the couch and his left arm was draped across Delly's side. Delly was tethering on the end of the couch which means one swift movement from her and she could topple off and smack her head against the coffee table. I didn't want that to happen to her.

"Can you move the coffee table a bit?" I ask.

"What for?" He questions.

"Just in case Delly falls. I don't want her hitting her head" I say.

"Looks like my new friend is so needy" He sighs and slides the table to the middle of the room. I go to the closet and fetch a large comforter, I draped it over them and took the time to study my two sleeping friends. Guilt overtook my body as I stared at them. I drugged my best friend and Peeta's best friend just so I could leave District 12 unnoticed. It was all worth it anyway. I was going to be reunited with the love of my life.

"You ready kitty" Hass asked stretching his hands above his head.

"Let me grab my bags" I say and walked up the stairs and into my bedroom. I was traveling light so I only had a large suitcase and a book bag with me. I took a moment to study the room and sighed heavily. This place was just not the same without Peeta. It just feels like a big empty hole. I stared down at my hands, at my small little ring that was nestled on my ring finger. I refuse to take this ring off. It was the only piece of Peeta I had left and it was going to stay right where it was. I lugged the bags downstairs and set them by the door. Hass was leaning against he wall with his arms crossed and a serious expression written across his face.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

Hass sighs, "I haven't been to the capitol in years, not since..." His voice trailed off and he gulped, "Not since...They killed my parents"

"You don't have to go" I say.

He snorts, "And waste a 200 and something dollar ticket no way kitty"

I looked at the clock we had about thirty minutes before the train left. I slipped on my boots, pulled my fathers hunting jacket over my slim form, pulled on my backpack and suitcase. Hass opened the front door for me and I left the comfort of the living room and made my way outside. The air was cold and flakes of snow was blowing all around me. Hass shut and locked the door behind him. He walked down the icy stairs and grabbed a large suitcase that he had set on the ground. We walked through the streets of district 12 and finally after ten minutes of walking came to a stop at the station. The large train was stopped and people were showing their tickets to the attendant and getting on. Hass and I moved so we were in line waiting for our turn to board the train.

"Hmm tourists Whats so great about the 12 districts in Panem. Well 13." Hass grumbled.

"Who knows" I shrugged.

"Hey kitty?"

"Hmm"

"Is he worth all this trouble?"

I frowned, "Yes he is. I would travel to the end of the earth if I had to" I state.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you its just that...I have never been in love with anyone in my entire life and seeing you go through all this just for a chance to see your lover. Its just all doesn't make sense to me."

"Lets just say I would do anything for Peeta. I'd die for him" I mumble. "You'll see, you'll find someone and then you'll understand."

Hass chuckles, "I reckon there is not anyone out there for me"

"Don't say that there is someone out there for everyone"

"Not for me there isn't"

"Oh stop it" I say.

"What its true"

I shook my head and rolled my eyes "I am going to laugh when you fall in love with someone"

"Whatever Kitty"

We spent a couple of minutes laughing and joking with one another before coming up and giving the attendant our tickets and boarding the train, there were so many people that littered the train. Hass and I had to push our way through just to get to our seats. The people that were on this train all were speaking in some foreign language. Something I didn't understand. Why would they leave their homes just so they could tour Panem. There was nothing special about Panem. It was filled with nothing but nightmares and horrors. The districts were nothing special either. I have been to each one of them, both Peeta and I have on the victor tour and it was a horrible experience for me. One I wish to forget. I had to witness a man get shot, had to stare in Cato, Glimmer and Marvel's family faces, I could still see their hatred for me. Can still see the revenge that lingered in there eyes.

"Are you alright?" Hass asked me.

"Fine" I assured him and stared out the window. Gale and Delly should be stirring any moment. They would wake up and find me gone, it was too late for them to stop me. I was well on my way to Peeta and the place that brought me so much nightmares. The capitol. I have not been there in over five years So I didn't know what to expect. Did Paylor change it from the inside out? What was it going to be like? The train started to move and I immediately said my mental goodbyes to the district and to Delly and Gale. I looked out the window and watched as my home vanished from sight. Sometime later I fell into a deep sleep and that was when the nightmares started to consume me. They were of Peeta and the baby. Peeta had his one hand around my neck and in the other hand he was holding a knife. He carved through my stomach and stabbed me multiple times. I snapped my eyes open, sweat was covering my face, my cheek was pressed up against the glass window and drool was forming at the corner of my mouth. I lifted my head off the glass window and peered around the empty train compartment. I don't know where Hass was but something told me he left me alone to sleep.

I hated sleeping because of all the nightmares I would get. Peeta was the only one able to chase off the nightmares. Ever since he left me standing there at the train station I have not had a decent night sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I would see him grinning at me with such hatred. I hated seeing the capitols Peeta at night and wanted to do everything in my power to get rid of that image. I rose from my sitting position and stretched my tired arms. I hated to say this but this train was a lot less classy than the one on the victors tour. I at least had a bed and not this tiny compartment. I slid the door opened and peered down the well lit hallways. A stray clock hanging on the wall told me it was nearing 8 in the afternoon. Had I been asleep for that long? It didn't matter how long I have been asleep because I never sleep well, I'm always tired.

I strolled down the narrow hallway of the train and came into a large section filled with tables and chairs. Hass was sitting at a table in the corner drinking what looked like a couple of coffee while staring out the window. He was so deep in thought that when I took a seat across from him it took him a couple of second before he even noticed I was staring at him. His eyes flicked and met mine. He smiled warmly at me before taking another sip of his coffee.

"Have a nice sleep?" He asked.

I shake my head "I never have good night sleeps"

"Why is that?"

"I get really bad nightmares and sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night screaming my head off. I can't really help it. The Hunger Games, the war, everything has messed my life up, I am so broken sometimes."

"What are they about?"

"Peeta mostly,but there are some about the tributes I have killed. Tributes that were slaughtered right in front of me. I had to watch people that I love die."

"The capitol just takes everything away from us" Hass mumbles and sets his cup hard on the table.

"Its been better now that Paylor is in office" I say.

"How long before someone else takes over" He mutters.

"Nobody could be as bad as Snow was. I mean yeah President Coin was just as power hungry and ruthless as Snow was, but I really think the tormenting of the districts is over."

"Coin?" He questions.

"Was a president from district 13. Don't ask"

Hass sighs heavily and stares up at me. "You sure been through a lot huh?"

"Yeah, but Peeta and I can get over it together. We need each other so much" I say.

We were silent for a couple of seconds Hass eyes were now fixed on the coffee in front of him. "He really is a fool for leaving a girl like you behind"

"He did it because he loves me" I said.

"What do you think he will do once he sees you?"

"I know exactly what he'll do,He'll kiss me, hug me and then push me away and become angry with me"

"Why would he be angry at you?"

"For coming after him when he told me not too, but to tell you the honest truth I can't help it. I love him so much and I need to help him find a cure."

"A cure?"

I thought I told him this already, he must of forgot.

"They tortured him, beat him and injected him with so much poison, they turnd him against me..." My voice trailed off and I gulped, "He tried to kill me numerous times."

"You trust him even though he tries to kill you?" I knew he wasn't trying to be rude, he was just curious.

"I love him so much and it really isn't his fault."

"Hmm" Hass said and took a sip from his cup.

Hass and I talked for a good couple of hours before retiring to bed in that uncomfortable train compartment. It was hard to sleep during the night and as soon as I shut my eyes that was when I saw Peeta with that devious evil grin. The hatred he had for me in his eyes brought tears to my body and soul. Just as Peeta was about to come at me with the knife I snapped my eyes open and became aware the train was no longer moving. Hass was stretched across his seat fast asleep with his boots on the window seal and his arms around his head. I let my eyes adjust to to the bright warm light that was shinning through the window. I pulled my body off of the large compartment seat and came face to face with the warm peaceful place that was District 11. I choked back tears as memories of little Rue flooded my mind. I remember her telling me that this place was a lot stricter than 12 was. District 11 was known for its amazing breath taking agriculture products, even now after the capitol fell District 11 continued to harvest their goods and instead of sending all their product to the capitol They were aloud to buy, Sell, trade and work for it like normal people.

"Morning Kitty" Hass yawned from his seat and sat up in a upright position.

"Sleep well?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "I need a bed not this poor excuse for a seat. How do they expect us to sleep on this horrible thing."

"Who knows" I shrug.

"You want to tour district 11 with the rest of them?" Hass asked.

I immediately shook my head. "No definitely not"

"Alright suit yourself buddy"

I watch him get up and leave for the door, once he was out of sight my eyes went back to the acres and acres of fields. Those fields, they reminded me of Thresh and how he hid in them to escape the careers. Which eventually Thresh was hunted down by Cato for reasons that was unknown to me. I personally think it had something to do with Thresh bashing Clove's temple in with a rock. There was only one way to find out and that was watch the tape of the 74th Hunger Games which I was not willing to do. I didn't want to watch those kids die, I didn't want the light to leave their eyes. It was cruel, unfair as to how many children lost their lives because of the games. I'm glad Snow is dead and may he forever burn in hell. I sat by the window for what seemed like ages, the warm air that was coming from outside was making the train compartment extremely hot for me. I forgot District 11 was located in the deep south.

The heat was becoming to much to handle, I Slowly rose from the seat and made my way off the heated train and into the fresh outdoors of District 11. Hass had to be around here somewhere. District 11 has not changed much since the last time I have been here. I made my way into the town square and memories of seeing the old man getting shot in the head rushed back into me. His life was unfairly taken from him. I found a bench and sat in it watching the people of district 11 wandering the streets of the town square. A couple of them glanced at me, smiled, nodded and even approached me to see what I have been up to all these years. They liked me because I took care of that little girl. Rue-who would be in her teens now, Rue-like Prim should of developed a teenage attitude, should have had her first kiss, her first boyfriend, but no her life had to be ended by a spear. I closed my eyes for a moment to drink up the rays of the warm sun, it has been awhile since I felt the warmth of the outdoors on my skin. District 12 has been covered in snow for months and I was sick of it. When my eyes snapped open I noticed a older women in her mid-forties come to a stop right in front of me. She had dark hair, darker skin than me, her eyes bored into mine as she made her way over to me and took a seat next to me.

"Hello Miss Everdeen" She greets warmly.

She looks oddly familar like I have seen her before. "Can I help you madam?"

"I'm sorry its just I...had to talk to you just this one. It is a shocker. What brings you here to District 11" She had a very deep southern accent. She wore a baggy t-shirt and baggy shorts. I bit my lip trying everything I can to remember where I have seen this woman's face. Then it hit me like a ton of brick. The victor tour. This women was Rue's mother, she stood there in the front row and watched Peeta and I give our speeches and appreciation to District 11.

"Your Rue's mother aren't you?" I question.

She let a weak smile tug on her lips, "Yup that was my baby"

Rue has been dead for so long but her memory would never die. Nobody in this district will every forget the strong fierce little girl that managed to escape the wrath of the careers, that became my partner and friend. That died tragically and nobody will ever forget how I sang that little girl to sleep, how I covered her in flowers to honor her memory.

"I just wanted to thank you Miss. Everdeen. I know its been years since you came here and since my little girl passed on, but what you did for her was amazing."

I could feel tears starting to sting "She deserved to be honored."

"She was such a happy child, so fun, so loving."

"She is at peace now" I mutter.

The women was silent for a moment then she looked up at me with her dark eyes.

"Miss Everdeen Will you join us for dinner?" She asks hopeful.

"Yes, but I got to find my friend first."

"By all means take your time, bring them along too" She says.

I smiled warmly at her before hopping up from the bench to find Hass. This was a big district so there was only so many places he could be. I could not believe this was happening. I could not believe I had just had a very short conversation with Rue's mother and she wanted me to join her for dinner. What were the odds of that? I cannot believe she recognized me after all these years, that she approached me and thanked me for taking care of her daughter. I looked around the square for what seemed like ages before finding Hass at a gift shop. Since when the hell did they add a damn gift shop in district 11. I pushed the angry feeling aside and pushed the double doors open. Hass was bent over the shelves picking through papers that informed a person what district 11 was all about. The people that were in the shop were mostly people from the train, people that were tourist. God I hate tourism. I approached Hass and snatched the paper clean out of his hand and caused him to jump in surprise.

"Don't give me a heart- attack Kitty" He mumbles.

"I got invited to dinner want to come?" I ask him. Deep down I was hoping he would say no just because I felt the need to spend time with Rue's family on my own. He smiled, patted me on my shoulder and shook his head.

"Nah, thanks for the offer though, I am heading out to the wheat fields and by the way weren't you just going to mope around on the train all day" He teases.

"It got hot" I say.

"Were not in District 12 anymore Kitten" He smirks and then goes back in rummaging through postcards and papers. My heart was pounding in my chest with each step I took. I was nervous; after so many years I was going to meet that little girls family. Going to be praised and thanked by her family for honoring her. This woman whoever she was waited five years to tell me thank you for being there for her child. I only hoped to god that this dinner would go smoothly, that I would not burst into tears at the mere memory of Rue. I meet back up with the woman in the middle of the square and she led me through the crowded streets of 11. God the sun was extremely hot, if it got any hotter I really was going to die.

"I'm sorry for not introducing myself I am Aanna"

"Katniss" I introduced myself. Although she already knew me.

"I know who you are" She grinned. Aanna looped her arm around mine and we talked the whole way to her home which was a 10 minute walk from the town square. When we got there I took a moment to examine the outer structure of the house. It was a white color with a copper fence going around it. Aanna smiled and led me through the fence, up the stairs and into the small house. She slipped her shoes off by the door and I did the same. Almost every window was open in the house to allow some sort of breeze to make its way in here.

"Please have a seat. Can I get you anything?"

"No thank you"

She nodded and stalked into the kitchen. Their living room was small only three pieces of furniture two couches, a chair and a old rundown TV that probably didn't work anymore. I couldn't believe I was sitting in a complete strangers house. My eyes scanned the walls there was a clock and a couple pictures of this woman's children. She had three boys three girls. I stopped at the last picture and immediately my heart sank. Rue. She was smiling, her dark hair was flowing down to her shoulder. She looked beautiful. The door suddenly opened and two teenage girls came strolling in chatting and gossiping with each other. These were Rue's sisters. I had to prepare myself in meeting these people. Their eyes rested on me, their smiles fade, their gossiping died down and I could feel the clutching in my chest as they studied me. This was going to be an extremely long and intense dinner, But I knew I could do it.

To be Continued...


	9. Hurt and Feelings

Hello sorry it has taken me so long to get his done. A few things you guys need to know before setting off to read this chapter. one I am changing a lot of stuff around in this story The summary says that Gale and Delly go after Katniss, I'm changing that, they will not be going after her instead I am going to have them stay in district 12 and deal with problems there, Its kind of two stories going on in here now, one is about Katniss going on her journey to find Peeta and the other is obviously about Gale and Delly connecting with each other and trying to sort out problems they have in 12. So please ignore the small part in the summary that says they go after her because I am taking that out completely and having them stay in 12. Another thing I'm not going to write a chapter for each District Katniss and Hass visit, I'll only write chapters for district 11, 10, 4, 2 and 1 and then Katniss gets reunited with her man hehe. another thing I am trying to make Gale and Delly's relationship as complicated as possible, sorry if it is a bit confusing. Okay thats enough gabbing please read and review this next chapter.

Chapter 9

Hurt and Feelings.

(Gale's POV)

I paced around the room with my hands behind my back, a grim look on my face and the images of Katniss flooding my mind. I cannot believe she had the nerve to drug our cup of hot chocolate last night. Last thing I remember was talking to her, then falling into a deep sleep, then Delly and I woke up on the couch with the blanket draped over us and a massive headache. I searched high and low for Katniss and found nothing. I searched the woods, Mellark's bakery, damn near every inch of district 12 before it dawn on me that a train was scheduled to take a group of tourist on a trip to the capitol. I had no doubt in my mind that was where she was going; that she left us just so she could make a break for Mellark. He was going to be so pissed at her when he sees her get off that train. He did leave her for a reason and for her to disrespect his reasons and find him in the capitol...Well I can only imagine what his reaction is going to be when she steps off that train. My thoughts immediately went to Hass, the stranger that had saved her from being raped. It turns out that he was missing too. I feared the worst, I feared that he went with her. I hoped to god not. I did not trust him as far as I could throw him, hiis mind was off; there was something not right about him.

I paced back and fourth waiting for Katniss's mother to show up, She had this idea in her head that Katniss really did buy a ticket and hop on the first train out of here with that stranger for company. I didn't reject that possibility. She would do anything just to get to Mellark back. I wanted to go with her mother and interrogate the man who sold the tickets, but Lyan would not let me just because I would result in pounding the crap out of the attendant if he played games with me. Delly watched me pace back and fourth in anger. She sat on the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest, her delicate chin resting on her knee caps.

"You need to relax" She tells me.

"How can I relax when Catnip is out there somewhere. She is depressed, she is with a stranger and she is heading to the god damn capitol." I spit out. The venom in my voice causes her to flinch.I know it is unfair to be taking my anger out on Delly, but really she is the only person present in the room right now so she will have to do. I would just apologize to her later with a kiss or two. It was so funny; I had this girl wrapped around my finger, she would do absolutely anything for me. If I told her to jump, she'd jump. It was incredibly awesome as too how much I could control her and she would do it. I know I should feel bad for using her, She is a sweet young girl, but I don't feel bad, not one little bit.

"She'll be fine, she is not alone" Delly assures me and for some reason her words sent me off. I stop pacing, put my hands on my hips like a teenage girl and shoot her the most vicious glare I could come up with.

"Really Del! She got a weird psycho with her. It is dangerous for her to be outside of District 12, not too long ago she was laying on her bed, crying her eyes out, refusing to get up and out of bed, but now she is all of a sudden happy, befriending a stranger and does something crazy like this" I snap. I am irritated, angry at the fact Katniss is gone and I am taking it all out on Delly, which is really unfair to her.

"Hass is hardly a threat" Delly says.

I raise my brow at her and cross my arms, "What are you a Hass expert!" I hiss.

"No I just have good judgment" She says and her words cause me to smile to myself. She is not as good as she says she is, if she was that good then she could see right pass me, can see the lies that I have been feeding her, can see the fake kisses. The kisses I give her to satisfy my loneliness, to distract me from having the one person I desire most. I need a distraction and well Delly is it. She is that distraction. I am not in love with her, but yet I give her soft kisses. I would not tell her those three little words people so often tell each other.I would eventually have to break her, tell her the truth, tell her she is nothing more than a friend to me, tell her all the times I kissed her were a lie. I have only kissed her a couple of times, three times at the most, but I plan on kissing her way more times than that. She lets her knees drop from her chest, rising up from the couch She calmly approaches me and places her small hand against my shoulder. I really don't want to deal with her right now, but the way she is massaging my sore shoulders is comforting and soothing. My shoulders do hurt from the position I had been laying in last night. Delly guides me across the living room and forces me to sit, She makes me shift my body so my back is towards her and my chest is against the arm of the couch. I close my eyes and focus on her hands as they slid against my clothed back. I don't know why I am so sore, it can't be just from my sleeping position from last night.

"You are very tense and need to relax. We'll find Katniss. I guarantee it" Delly says sweetly as she continues to massage my shoulders. She lets out an irritated sigh. "Gale?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you umm...hmmm" I move my head to the side just enough to glance at her. Her face is beat red, her hands have stopped massaging my back and she is staring at a spot on the couch. "Could you take your shirt off" She says in a very small voice. The blush on her face has deepened, She is embarrassed in requesting the removal of my shirt, obviously she cannot massage me properly. The fabric between her hands and my back makes it difficult. I button open my shirt and shrug out of it, letting the thin piece of fabric fall to the floor. I glance over my shoulder again to see Delly drinking in every inch of my exposed muscles. I closed my eyes waiting for her hands to start rubbing me, but she didn't move.

"I don't have all day" I say to her.

I suddenly became aware that her eyes are locked on a spot on my back. Then it hit me. My whipping scars. I turn around so fast that she is thrown back a little bit by my sudden movements. My bare chest is in sight now. She looks at me with nothing but sorrow in her eyes. She shoots me a look of apology, she is aware she made me self-conscious about my scar.

"I'm sorry Gale" She Apologizes.

"Don't worry about it" I mutter feeling slightly embarrassed. I hated those twin scars that ran from my shoulders all the way down to my lower back. I wasn't even thinking when I removed my shirt, all I was thinking about was getting a good massage from this girl. I had to get something out of her, but all I got was her pity and stares at the ugly jagged scars that littered my back. The wild turkey caused my back to become hideous and unbearable to look at. I remember each and every lash that I was struck with, that memory would never go away as long as I have these hideous things on my body. Delly proceeds in placing her hands on my shoulder, my back is resting on the cushions of the couch, hidden from sight. She leans over and gives my shoulders a gently squeeze.

"Lay on your stomach and relax" She demands. I shake my head.

"Nope, can you move away from me and hand me my shirt"

"You don't have to be ashamed of them" She mumbles.

Of course I have to be ashamed of my lashing scars, I was Gale Hawthorne for goodness sakes, I was a beautiful man, all women wanted me. To have these scars on my beautiful skin made me feel like a monster. I had to keep my monstrous appearances hidden.

"They are ugly Del" I stared at her and rolled my eyes, "Ugly and Gale do not mix"

She burst out laughing which I don't know why because it is the simple honest truth. I am not being sarcastic I am being honest.

"Why are you laughing?" I frown

"You make me laugh" She says wiping tears from her eyes.

"How so"

"Don't be ashamed of your scars. They are apart of you, they are your history. Just because you have them doesn't make you ugly. Don't hide them, don't be embarrassed of them. They don't make you any less ugly or any more beautiful."

Delly looks away for a spilt second and I take my time in rolling my eyes at her words. She then smiles at me and lifts her shirt up. I blush violently at the sight of her bare stomach. I thought she was going to pull her shirt all the way off but she stops just below her breast.

"Your not the only one with history" She smirks.

The long pink scar started from the tip of her rolled up shirt all the way to her belly button, from her belly button to her hip. What kind of person would do this to her. A need to investigate overtook my body. I reach out to slightly touch the faded pink scar, but she quickly pulled down her shirt and distanced herself from me. She scooted across the couch until her back hit the opposite side of the arm rest, she brought her legs to her chest again and bit her lip. Memories of all kinds flooded into her face.

"What happened?" I ask her.

She lets a weak smile spread on her face. "Lets say my step-father was a little hostile"

"What?" I raised a brow in disbelief. She was beaten, seriously? What sick man would beat her, she was so sweet and innocent I couldn't even image somebody's fists flying into her stomach. I cared about what happened to her. Why? She is my friend and everything, but why do I have this sick urge to hunt down her step-father and slit his throat with a knife. I placed my hand against my forehead and let out a deep sigh, Scooping my shirt off the ground I decided against having her give me a back massage. The tight feeling in my muscles were just going to stay there because I did not want her to touch me with those delicate hands of hers. Did not want her sweet innocent hands touching jagged flesh that scarred over. I threw on my shirt making my scars vanish from sight, I buttoned it up and then slid off the couch without another word to her.

"I'm sorry" She apologized and climb off the couch with me.

"For what?" I ask.

"For making you take off your shirt. I know how people can be when their scars are exposed."

"I just don't want people thinking I am ugly." I say with a serious tone that causes her to take a step back from me.

"You could never be ugly Gale" She says and I ignore her, stalking off into the kitchen to fetch a cup of coffee and leftover cookies. I heard Delly's soft footsteps coming from the living room and I prayed to god that she did not come into the kitchen and continue to talk to me. I was not in the mood to deal with her right now. I don't know what was wrong with me; one minute I am willing to let her touch and massage my bare skin and the next I can't even bare the thought of her touching me. What the hell was wrong with me? One minute I am having urges to touch her scarred skin, to hunt down her step-father and the next I wanna be as far away from her as possible. My feelings I have for her are odd, there friendly feelings at one time and then protective feelings another. Maybe it isn't such a good idea to use her as my distraction just because of the confusing feelings I have for her. The feelings that are there, but I don't know what they are.

I took a sip of coffee and sighed in irritation as she entered the room with her arms wrapped around herself and a troubled look on her face. There it was again that feeling to investigate, to find out what was wrong with her. Maybe she feels guilty for trying to touch my scars, she isn't so hard to read. I can tell when she is sad and when something is bothering her, she is a little bit more difficult to read than Katniss's is. With Katniss I know what she is thinking, what she is feeling, I can predict her movements and see right into her soul, that is why we would go good together because we know each other so well and can predict each others movements and feelings. She doesn't know it yet, but Katniss is my soul mate, my lover and I may have backed off and allowed Mellark to move into my territory in just the slightest inch, but he was not going to get very far. The longer he stayed away from her the more she would realize how better her life would be without him in it. Eventually.

She took a seat right next to me and I immediately felt the need to escape her. I did not want a woman like her to cling onto me like this, to follow me around like a lost puppy. Who cares if I was kissing on her or not; she still had no right in following me around. A man like me needed space.

"Do you think Miss. Everdeen found Katniss?" She questions.

I shook my head and took a sip of coffee, "No, Katniss is no longer in district 12, that I can say."

"She is going to go right for Peeta" Delly stated.

I sighed and shot her a look when she looked away from me for a split second. I hated the idea of Katniss leaving us behind just so she can be with a man that beats her, threatens her, causes her to loose a child. Peeta Mellark was a horrible human being and he did not deserve my best friend, he has hurt her so many times and each time she finds a way to forgive him. I have had enough, I have been tolerating Mellark ever since I have come back to district 12. I watched her cry over him, about him, I have watched her fight her feelings for me. I have no doubt in my mind that Katniss loves Mellark, I get that, but I am so convinced that if he stays away for a long period, stays out of her life then she could move on...to me. I can have her yet. Those were my thoughts when he first left, but now since she went through the trouble of drugging Delly and I, buying a ticket and boarding a train, all those thoughts about me having her vanished from my mind. She was never, ever going to leave Mellark willingly.

"Are you alright Gale?" Delly asks me. Of course I'm not alright my thoughts of Katniss are consuming every inch of my mind. I can't stop thinking about her which really is nothing new. I am always thinking about her. Always daydreaming about her soft lips, her delicate hands, what it would be like to have my way with her. I am disgusted at the fact that Mellark got her first, that he was able to...ugh I don't want to even think about him putting his hands on her and doing things. I knew they have done things before because he got her pregnant and there was only one way a woman could get pregnant and that was have sex. The thought of Peeta and Katniss having sex enraged me. I finally let my thoughts fade and glanced up at Del-who was staring at me hard, hoping she would catch just a flicker of emotion, that way she could understand what I was thinking.

"I'm fine!" I groan.

"Obviously not" She says which her words trigger my anger.

"So what your an expert on me now? You know how I am feeling?"

"No, I'm just concern" She says.

"Why ever would you be concerned about me?" I ask sarcastically.

"Because Gale your my..." Her voice trails off and blush covers her face. "What are we Gale?"

"What do you want to be?" I challenge her with a question.

"I don't know" She muttered, her eyes remained locked on the floor beneath us and she refused to look me in the eyes as she spoke. I was not ready for my distraction to go away just yet, so I approached her, laying my one hand on her shoulder and the other under her chin so I could tilted her face up and get a good look at her. I was using my good looks on her, hopefully she would take back the friends part. I still needed a distraction and well she was it like I said.

"We can be whatever you want" I smile at her, lightly grazing her cheek.

"Anything?" She questions.

"Anything honey" I say, god it was so easy to convince this girl of anything. I weaved my hands through her blonde hair and continued to shoot her my flirtatious smile that she melted right into.

"Your so handsome Gale" She tells me. Thats nothing new; I know I am good looking.

"Your so beautiful...catni-... Delly" I whispered, shit I almost called her catnip; that would of been real swift. I stared her right in the eyes and all I saw was hurt in her dark orbs. She picked up on my slip-up. She suddenly took a step back away from me and stared at the small spot on the ground. I placed a hand on her shoulder and she shrugged it off gently. Crap I screwed this up. She was not supposed to know everything was fake until I had Katniss in my arms.

"Your such a liar Gale" She hisses unexpectedly. Her sudden outburst in anger throws me way off and I find myself taking a step back. Shit, my distraction was getting away from me and it was all thanks to the slip up of words.

"I'm not lying, Your beautiful" I say. I proceed in leaning forward to kiss her, but she shrugs out of my grip and moves away before I can press my lips to hers. I had to do something and fast she was seeing the real side of me. "What's your problem Del?"

"Everything is my problem. My best friend is in the capitol, his girlfriend is broken and she had the nerve to leave the district. And you, your the biggest problem of all"

I frown, "Me? what did I do?" I yell.

"It's not what you did its what your doing to me!" She fires at me. I have never seen this girl get angry before, boy was this a sight. I don't know why she was taking her anger out on me or even where all of it was coming from. I knew she was worried about Peeta and everything. The little shit was her best friend and all, but really this whole situation had nothing to do with Delly. She was just someone Peeta wanted to look after Katniss and now that Katniss had pulled the wool over our eyes Delly was no longer needed.

"So enlighten me! What am I doing to you?" I hiss out.

"Nothing forget I said anything" She waves me off and is about to stalk into the kitchen, but I grab hold of her tiny wrist, stopping her in her tracks. I wasn't holding onto her that tight, but her wrist was so small and delicate that I was almost afraid of breaking it.

"Tell me" I demand.

"There is nothing to tell" She says and tries to break the grip I have on her, but that only makes me hold tighter.

"God Dammit Del Tell ME" I scream.

"Your making me fall in love with you and I don't want to because all you can think is Katniss" She shouts and tries to bolts for the door, but the grip I have on her holds her in place. She yanks and yanks, trying desperately to pull herself away from me.

"Your in love with me?" I ask shocked. Shit this was not happening, shit, shit, I led the girl on too much and now she was falling in love with me. I knew it was a bad idea to take advantage of her like this, to use her like she was a piece of meat, but I needed someone anyone.

"Let go of me now!" She yells.

"You love me? Yes or NO"

"LET GO"

"NO answer me"

"I'm getting there now let go of me" She yells and I still won't let go of her.

"What are you so pissed about?" I question.

"Nothing just let go of me" She finally manages to pull away from my grip and I catch sight of the bright red mark that I have unintentionally left on her wrist. Guilt flooded my body, I didn't mean to hurt her. She bolts for the door, not looking back. I decided not to go after her as she pulls open the door and disappears out into the morning. I am absolutely dumbstruck as to what had just happened. Delly in love with me? This just didn't make any sense, I didn't want her to be in love with me. Did I? No, I couldn't afford to pay attention to a girl like that. All my thoughts, feelings and concerns needed to go towards Katniss and Katniss only. Other girls could wait. Besides the only real reason why I have been kissing on Delly was to distract myself. It is nice to have someone to hold on to even if the small kisses, the small touches don't mean anything. Delly Cartwright does not mean anything to me thats what I had to keep telling myself.

(Delly's POV)

I bit my lip hoping the tears would not surface, I didn't want people staring at me as I walked through the streets of district 12. I couldn't believe I just told Gale Hawthorne that I was falling in love with him. I knew him and I was never going to be his first choice. It was funny to think that Gale was actually serious about liking me; it has always been Katniss that held his heart in the palm of her hands. I loved Katniss to death, But sometimes jealousy would surface; I knew how close the two of them were and I was alright with it. I had to stop this feeling that was rising, this feeling of wanting him in a way I shouldn't want him. We have known each other for what a couple months now not even that. How can I have these feelings for him after only a short period of time. My thoughts and feeling I had for Gale didn't make sense to me. I told him I didn't feel anything for him but friendship and then I go and kiss him that night he tried to hunt down York. I tell him he is handsome and he almost calls me Catnip which really upset him considering we kissed so many times and I am pretty sure those kisses meant nothing to him. He was probably thinking about her the whole entire time. Which I guess its fine, I guess I could live with the fact that I have been used by a man that I was slowly falling in love with.

I walked through the streets of district 12 not really having a destination point. I just kept wandering and thinking about how much I needed Peeta around. He is my best friend and I could tell him anything. He knows everything about me and I tell him almost everything that goes on in my life. I needed to talk to him about my odd feelings I have towards Gale, they are becoming so overwhelming that I can no longer contain the hunger that is rising. Peeta would understand and help me sort the feelings out. He would not like it if I up and told him I had feelings for his girlfriends best friend. He absolutely hates Gale and hate is such a strong word. A word that Peeta never uses, But I can say this he fricking HATES Gale with everything he has. I don't think it is wise to tell Peeta about my feelings. I knew he wouldn't do anything to me that would hurt my feelings, but Gale on the other hand, if his feelings for me were real and his kisses meant something then I guarantee Peeta would threaten him.

The thoughts that lingered in my mind vanished as a large man came into a stop in front of me. I stopped dead in my tracks and was about to turn and run the other way, but both his strong hands landed on my shoulders and stopped me in my tracks. I looked up into his hateful eyes as he grinned at me. Fear spread through my body as he stared me in the eyes and led me away from the publics eye and into a small alleyway. I knew I should do something; shout, yell, call for help, but I was stricken with fear. OH god he was going to finish me off.

"Well hello beautiful we meet again" York said running his hands down my arms.

I was silent and tears started to flow out of my eyes as he rubbed my arms. Memories from my past started to flood my mind as York's hands moved all over my body. No, No, No , this could not happen to me again.

"Sweetheart why are you crying I am not going to hurt you" He wiped the tears out of my eyes and placed his disgusting lips on my neck.

"Please don't" I begged.

"Oh don't worry sweetheart, I got some excitement today. I'm just taking the time to admire you and I want you to send Hawthorne a little message for me."

I was getting so sick and tired of him popping up like this. Ever since the day he tried to hurt Katniss, he has been everywhere. He is like a bad weed, no matter how hard you try to pull and get rid of it; it always finds it's way back to you.

"Leave Gale alone" I mutter.

York chuckles, "Oh baby I can't leave your little group alone now, not after everything you people have done to me and my sister" He runs his hands across my back, down my shoulders and across my collarbone. I shake violently and try to pull away from him, but he only holds me tighter and laughs. "Whats the matter baby? never been touched by a man before" He questions and places his lips against mine roughly. I cry out and pound my fist against his chest. He pulls back and frowns, "You don't like this"

"Please let me go and leave me alone" I cry. He refuses and holds me tighter.

"Tell Hawthorne that his little sister has nice tight little pants and that if he ever crosses me again I'll make sure little sister disappears" He grins and I feel the anger bottle up inside me. How dare he threatened Posy, she is such a sweet an innocent girl.

"Sick bastard is that all you ever think about" I boldly spat at him. His hand came across my face and he strikes me hard. He grabs my arms again and I am pretty sure they will bruise. He moves his hands roughly from my arms and places one of them around my neck, the other hand dips into his pocket and he pulls a large knife out and starts waving it around.

"Listen here you little bitch, you tell Hawthorne to never cross me again and if you so happen to see that little punk that busted up my nose tell him a knife is waiting to find its home. If you don't replay the message I will kill you right here and now and give your body to Hawthorne. Understand." I didn't answer him and that was when he shook me and slammed my body against the brick wall, "Understand me bitch" I nodded out of fear and he smiled, let go of me and placed his knife back into his pocket. I watched him smile at me one last time before disappearing from my sight. I can't believe that just happened and I can't believe he will not leave us alone. I really do think we have crossed paths with a dangerous individual and that we were in deep.

I am shaking so badly when I reenter Katniss's house and find Gale and her mother sitting at the table talking. Obviously Lyan found hide nor hair of Katniss. It was official Katniss was making a break for Peeta and there was no stopping her; if I knew Peeta he was going to be extremely pissed at her. He cares about her safety more than anything else and if he left her so she wouldn't get hurt then his problem is more serious than I thought. She was ruining the distance Peeta put between the two of them, the distance that ensured Katniss's safety. I quickly shut the door behind me and bolt upstairs before anyone could see how bad I am shaking. I am shaking so bad that one might thick I have just skinny dip in an icy pound. I go upstairs to the spare bedroom that I use and try my best to stop shaking, but it is no use. He has scared me so badly. I wish I never would of stormed out of this house and walked into the streets of 12. Maybe then I would of never ran into York. I should of known I had a high chance of running into him. The door suddenly opened and standing under the door frame is Gale. Great I didn't want to deal with him at the moment.

"I'm sorry Del I didn't mean to..." He began but his voice trailed off as he caught sight of my shaking body, "Delly?"

"Its okay Gale I'm not mad, I know you didn't mean to lead me on" I say shaking so badly.

"Delly what's wrong?"

"I'm cold" I lie.

"No your not" Anyone could tell that I have been scared to death, He approaches me and I back off a bit before he can touch me. I am done letting men touch me, I hate them I hate them all except for Peeta. No that's a lie not all men are sick and twisted like York. "What happened?"

"Nothing" I reply and I can no longer contain the tears, the spill from my eyes hard and fast, my knees give out and I am about to drop to the floor but Gale catches me and I sob into his shirt.

"He threatened Posy" He holds me back an inch or two and stares me in the eyes. I can see a small amount of anger in them at the mentioning of his sister.

"What? Who threatened her?" He ask wiping away tears that I cry.

"Y-York. I can't even go outside without him trying to..." I gulped and the tears streamed faster.

"Did he hurt you?" Gale asked in anger.

"N-No, He said if you crossed him again then Posy will pay the price. I'm so scared of him Gale, I scared for Katniss, for Hass and for you, we shouldn't have crossed him" I repeat.

"Hass couldn't just let him hurt Katniss" I can't believe I was crying in front of him this hard, He pulled me into a hug to my surprise and stroked the top of my blonde head in a comforting way, "You'll be alright Del. I won't let him hurt you or me or my sister" I rested my head against his strong chest, his arms encircled me as I cried and eventually he picked me up gently and carried me to my bed and told me to sleep. I curled up in a ball, but sleep would not find me. Gale sat on the end of the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Gale?" I mumble sleepily.

"What Del"

"I know you aren't really into me, but can you lay with me?"

"Alright Del" He says and crawls into bed with me, As soon as his head hits the pillow beside mine, I rest my head against his chest and listen to the soft thumb of his heart. That heart that I will never hold. Gale wraps his arms around me in nothing but a comforting way, He knows I am still all worked up about my encounter with York and is trying everything in his power to comfort me. As I lay there in his arms all I think about is how his body is pressed up against mine. There is no doubt in my mind that I Delly Cartwright have fallen in love with Katniss Everdeen's best friend. A man who is arrogant, cocky and so full of himself, A man I will never be with.

To be continued...


	10. Ocean District

So I saw the movie and I feel that they left a lot of important things out in it. I feel Haymitch and Rue should have had more parts, I don't know I kind of felt like they rushed through some things in it, But other than that it was good. I think they did a good job with Cato and the careers, they were such little pricks. Anyway back to this story I know some of you want Gale and Delly to go after Katniss and some of you don't. I honestly don't know what to do now so I guess we can vote on it and work something out I do not want to disappoint anyone with the choices I make. So let me know how many of you want them to go and how many of you want them to stay, and oh yeah about my OC Character York, he'll get his I promise. one last thing I will go back and try and remove all my mistakes and possibly add things to it when I get a chance. hehe well thats enough chatting please read and enjoy and don't forget to review.

Chapter 10

Ocean District.

(Katniss's POV)

The dinner with Rue's family went by smoothly, a little too smoothly for my liking. I discovered her two sisters names were Rumman and Nassi, which by the looks of them they can be very intimidating at first, but once you get to know them they were really sweet girls just like their sister. Rue's three brothers did not join us for dinner that evening, Aanna said they were busy working in the fields and would not get home until way after sunset. Rumman and Nassi did not talk a whole lot at first, they just sat there and stared at me long and hard, trying to get use to the fact that their mother invited a stranger into their home. Finally after many moments of staring, the oldest one-Nassi decided to smile at me and ask me question about the coaling mining district. I happily answered all her questions. I told her that our mines were reopened shortly after the capitol's downfall, I told them how the district was being rebuilt and after five years we were making drastic progress. They asked me if I knew anyone who worked in the mines, I merely smiled and said my father and best friend worked down there. We all shared small talk for at least a half an hour and then they brought up the subject I have been dying to avoid. Rue. As soon as Rumman said her name a sad expression spread across Aanna's face immediately.

"What did you think about my sister?" Rumman asked curiously.

"Rummy, Nows not the time to..." Aanna began but I smiled and cut her off.

"Rue was an amazing little girl, strong, loveable, brilliant..." I bit my lip hoping to hold back the tears I knew were going to surface, "She was a cutie pie and very sneaky, even though I only knew her for a short while she was the best friend and ally anyone could ever ask for" That was when the tears gradually began to roll down the sweet older woman's cheek, she was crying because of the kind, sweet words I had for her daughter, The memories that I see flooding into her heart and soul touched me. It may have been a couple years, but that doesn't mean these people still didn't miss Rue. A mother never really gets over the death of her child and how could she? My mother still weeps over Prim everyday, She may not cry out or let the tears stream down her face, but anyone could tell by her body language she will never get over the fact that her youngest daughter did not make it through the war and that was something she was going to have to live with.

After we devoured the well cooked meal, Had a heart to heart conversation about Rue, I stayed in the kitchen with Aanna and helped her with the dishes even though she told me it was alright, that I was a guest in her household and guests did not have to work. I insisted though and proceeded in drying her dishes, she gave up on trying to convince me to sit down in the living room and allowed me to help her. We washed the plates, cups and silverware and proceeded to put them away in the drawers and cabinets.

"You never did tell me why you are here in district 11" She says with a smile.

"Just touring around" I lied quietly.

Aanna smiled, "Now child don't give me that"

There was no hiding anything from this woman, I barely knew her and she could read me like a book. Was I really that easy to read? "I'm heading to the capitol" I told her honestly and watched a ton of emotions spread across her middle-aged face. I expected her to ask me a ton of questions like why are you going to a place like this? Why waste the money on a ticket? Things like that, but no words came out of her mouth, which I liked her ten times more because of it. After we were all done washing the dishes and they were put away and everything. Aanna led me into the living room where she offered me a seat next to the fireplace that was never lit. Rumman and Nassi retired to their rooms to study for a test or something they had coming up at school. This left Aanna and I alone with each other to do more bonding.

"My finacee is in the capitol" I blurted out without even thinking about it.

"The nice blond-headed boy?" She asks quietly. Its really no surprise that she knew who I was talking about almost immediately after the words left my mouth. All of Panem knew who Peeta was and they all knew who I was too. I would not be able to walk down the streets without someone pointing at me, without someone whispering 'look there goes the mockingjay', It was all really starting to get old in my opinion and I wanted nothing more than for my fame as the girl- who is the mockingjay to vanish, but I guess people who do great things never vanish from the worlds thoughts and I can honestly say by giving Panem its freedom from the capitol, by saving many children from being reaped for the hunger games, saving people from death and despair, things like that never go unrewarded.

"Peeta" I quietly whispered.

"He seems like a kind, sweet young man" She says.

I smile widely and nod my head, "He is the sweetest person you will ever meet"

Our conversation was interrupted as a soft knock on Aanna's door caused her to rise from her siting position and stalk over towards the front door to open it.

"Can I help you?" I hear her ask.

"Yes madam, I am looking for Katniss Everdeen I was told she might be here" Came the all to familiar voice of Hass. I immediately flew from my sitting position and stood next to Aanna. Hass's Gray seam eyes met mine and he smiled widely.

"How did you find me?" I question him curiously.

He smiles a cocky smile, "I asked around and people said they saw you take off with this lovely young woman right here"

"We have a very small, but yet large community, everyone knows everyone and everything that goes on" Aanna commented.

"So it would appear" Hass smiles.

"Would you like to come in?" Aanna invited.

"I don't want to intrude" Hass says politely.

"Nonsense come on in for a spot of tea"

She steps sideways and allows him to enter, Hass passes her easily and stands next to me. Aanna shuts the door behind him and goes back into the living room to sit next to the lifeless fire.

"Where you been all day?" I ask him.

"Here and there Kitten, I thought I ask some locals if they have seen you. Got to make sure you stay out of trouble" He smirks and I roll my eyes.

"I always stay out of trouble"

He snorts, "No offense kitty but you're a trouble magnet"

"Am not" I mumble.

"Are too"

Aanna makes us tea, chats with us some more and then we decide it is time to go back onto the large train for a decent nights sleep, even though travel trains are hell to sleep in. Aanna hugs me tightly, tell me not to be a stranger and then sees us off. The sun has set over the horizon by the time we make it back to the train, my mind was wandering from thought to thought. I still couldn't believe I had just meet Rue's family. What a nice group of people; I only wish I could of meet her brothers, but they were out working in the fields, harvesting grain and other things. Hass and I entered our room on the train and proceeded to try and get some sleep.

This trip feels like it has been going on for years, we passed through Hass hometown of District 10, there was nothing much to see there it was mostly livestock such as cows. It smelled really bad there too just as Hass said which really didn't surprise me, I have been to all the districts before I knew what to expect from each one. District 9 was completely boring, all we did there was take a tour of fields, 8 wasn't too bad the textiles they made really spiked my interested. I considered hiring someone from district 8 to redo my whole kitchen floor I hated the ugly green color that was my floor. The Lumber, Transportation, and Power districts all took their Sweet time in making my life hell. I was so close to him I could almost feel his warm touch. I swear I have been traveling on this train for months and months, that was what it felt like, but in reality It has only been about a week or two.

My back ached so badly because of the sleeping conditions. I wanted the trains from the victors tour, I wanted the soft comfortable beds with the light fluffy pillows and the thin blankets and most of all I wanted Peeta's strong arms wrapped around me. I wanted him to hold me and chase the nightmares away. I am really embarrassed to say I had one the other night. I woke up kicking and screaming, startling the crap out of Hass. He woke up in alert and toppled right off his large seat, smacking his head off the ground in the process. After I had calmed down I told him that I have nightmares on a regular bases and that they were about my time in the arena and that the only way I would be able to get rid of them is to have Peeta wrap his arms around me and chase them away. He said everything was fine because his father was the same way; only his father didn't cry out. He would curse, kick, punch and even attempt to hunt down people in his sleep; although there was never anyone there for him to hunt down. I couldn't get over how incredibly sweet this guy that saved my life was. Surely Peeta was not going to feel jealous of this guy who saved me and became so willing to protect me on this mission.

The train arrived in district 4 and I could hardly contain my excitement, three more after this one, three more and I will be reunited with him and together we will face this venom and hopefully rid it from his mind completely. It was mid-day when the train arrived in four. Hass and I exited the train and inhaled the heavenly salty scent of the ocean. I loved this district, the air, the beautiful view I had of the ocean.

"My friend Annie lives here. I want to go see her" I tell him.

"Sure thing, I'll be around somewhere" He says.

"Oh no why don't you meet her, she is really nice" I said, besides Hass and I have been going our separate ways in each district we visit. He smiles, nods his head and I lead the way. I really was not sure if Annie still lived in the same house as she did when I first came to see her, only months after the war ended. She had a newborn baby, which little Finnick had to be at least five by now.

"You know we are almost there right" Hass says to me as we walk across this long boardwalk that stretches from island to island, that is what District 4 is made up of; nothing but Islands and they had these long boardwalks that littered the ocean.

"It feels like we have been traveling for months" I point out.

"About a week or so" Hass says.

"Thats it?" I question and he nods his head with a smile. Its hard to believe its only been a week or two, none of it mattered now we were almost there and soon I will be in his arms where I belonged. Hass and I walked down the boardwalk for what seemed like and eternity before coming to a large residential island. If I recall correctly Annie lived in the house closest to the ocean. It was not hard to find and once I was sure I had the correct house I knocked three loud knocks, it took awhile for her to answer but once she did; her face lit up like a Christmas tree and she flung her arms around me.

"Oh Katniss hello"

"Annie its been awhile" I muttered and hugged her back. Annie's dark green eyes moved past me and rested on Hass. She smiled, let go of me and proceeded in introducing herself to him. She ran a hand through her dark flowing and offered it to Hass. "Hello I'm Annie"

Hass gladly takes her hand "Hass Fredrickson madam"

"Nice to meet you" She smiles.

Annie leads us into her house which there is a large couch, two sofa chairs and a large TV in the living room, also on the living room floor are small toys. A large round table sat in the middle on the kitchen and three chairs surrounded it. She had a large black stove and fridge and her counters were a dark sea blue color.

"Can I get you anything?" Annie asks, "Tea, Water, Milk maybe"

"No thank you" I rejected kindly.

"How about you Mr. Fredrickson"

Hass laughs, "Please call me Hass. Mr. Fredrickson makes sound so old"

"My apologies sir"

Hass chuckles again, "Sir is even worse"

Annie offers us a seat in the living room which we gladly take it. The three of us chatted for a couple seconds before a young boy by the age of five enters the front door with a look of excitement on his face. He is carrying a small backpack on his back. He kicks off his shoes and darts towards his mother as fast as his little les could carry him. Annie smiles as her son flings off his book bag and climbs into her lap.

"Mommy, Mommy guess what" He says excitedly.

"What Finny" She smiles.

"I got an A on my spelling test today"

"Thats great Finn I am so proud of you" Annie says. I choke back tears as I take in her sons appearance, he had tan skin, bronzed-colored hair and incredible sea green eyes. He was an exact replica of Finnick. He did not look like Annie not one bit, he had none of her appearances; it was all Finnick. Finn caught sight of us and immediately blushed and hid his little face in his mothers lap.

"Can you tell our guests hi?"

He turns his head to the side and smiles at me and then at Hass, "Hello" He greets in a quiet voice. At least he has one trait from his mother; he is shy. Finnick on the other hand was never shy like this. He was so flirtatious, easy going and had a very good sense of humor. Oh how I miss him.

"Hello Finny do you remember me?" I ask, I didn't expect him to he was so young when we first met.

"Mommy says your Katniss"

"Thats my name" I smile.

Finns deeps sea greens eyes rests on Hass, "Who are you?"

"I"m Hass buddy"

Finn giggles, "Thats a goofy name and you got a goofy face"

"Finnick Odair Jr. that is not nice" Annie scolds.

"Oh no its fine really" He tells Annie and proceeds in really making a goofy face in little Finnick's direction. Finn laughs loudly and buries his small head into Annie's lap again.

"Finn go hang that on the fridge while I go talk to our guests" Annie ordered her son.

"Okay mommy" He hops off his mothers lap and nearly skips into the kitchen to hang his test on the refrigerator.

"What brings you all the way here to district 4" Annie asks.

"I'm heading to the capitol" I tell her, "And my friend Hass here came with me" A flicker of pain washed across her face as I mentioned the capitol. I forgot it was a sensitive subject with her and I quickly let that subject drop from our conversation.

"Why on earth would you go there?" She asks quietly.

All I had to say was Peeta's name and she too drop the subject. Little Finn returned from the kitchen with a proud look on his face, he hopped over to his mother and climbed into her lap once more. It was scary as too how much he looked like Finnick; it was like looking at a mini version of him. Little Finn had everything that was his fathers. He had Finnicks hair, eyes, mouth, nose, skin, damn well everything.

"Mommy can I go outside?" He asks blinking his eyes multiple times and sticking out his lower lip. His look was pleading.

"Honey mommy has to start on dinner and you know she doesn't like it when you go down there by yourself."

He hopped off his mothers lap again and crossed the room to where Hass and I was sitting on the couch. "Will you come down to the ocean with me Katy?" He asks.

"Awe buddy I really would but I haven't seen your mommy in a long time and we got lots to talk about."

"How about you Hass" This boy was really desperate.

"Sure buddy if thats okay with your mom" Hass's gray seam eyes connects with Annies and she bits her lip, her face has an unsure expression on it. She was not sure if she should trust this man with her son, which I don't blame her for having that motherly instinct. She looks over at me and I merely nodded my head. She could trust him with little Finn. Hass was not going to do anything horrible to the little boy.

"Alright but I want you back up here when dinner's ready" Annie says.

Little Finn cheers, pulls Hass towards the door by his hand and proceeds in sliding his shoes on. Hass has an amused look on his face as the little boy drags him out of the comfort of the house and into the beautiful outdoors. I really wish District 12 had this type of weather, it was really beautiful outside, and a bit warm. No snow in sight. Annie walks into the kitchen and I stumble in after her to help prepare dinner.

"You need help?" I ask her.

"Oh sure thank you" She kept looking out the small window in front of her.

"Hass won't do anything to hurt him" I assure her.

"Hmm...Oh I know its just...I worry about him sometimes"

"It's normal to worry" I said.

We were silent for a couple seconds before she broke that silence. "So when are you and Peeta going to pop out a little baby"

I let out a deep sigh and a hurtful expression spread across my features. "We were pregnant"

"I"m sorry Katniss I shouldn't of..."I hold up my hand to silence her.

"It's fine, it just wasn't meant to be thats all"

"If you don't mind me asking why is he in the capitol?"

"Remember them really bad episodes he had in 13?"

She nods.

"He still has them and its gotten to a point where he really doesn't want to hurt me like that anymore. We..." I took a deep breath before finding the right words to say to her, "We lost the baby because of it. Peeta blames himself so much; He is beating himself up over it and it was mostly my fault not his. He just doesn't understand how much his absence is killing me. I mean really killing me inside. I can't take being away from him anymore"

"You two really need each other. I don't understand why he would just up and leave you after you two lost the baby" Annie mutters.

"He doesn't want to hurt me thats why and he doesn't get that leaving me like this is the worst than anything he could have possibly do to me." I reveal.

"He loves you Katniss thats why he is probably doing this too you" Annie says.

"I know he does, but its just so hard"

Annie looks out the small window above her kitchen sink and takes out a large pot from the cabinet, she fills it up with hot water and lets it sit on the stove for a couple minutes. We remained silent and I watch Annie stumble around the kitchen collecting things for dinner. She was making pasta and fresh deer meat she had bought from the store not to long ago. I smiled to myself. I was an expert at cooking deer meat.

"Deer meat is better when it is killed fresh" I tell her.

She smiles at me and dumps a large amount of pasta in the bubbling pot. "I know its amazing, but sadly I am unable to hunt well" She stares out the window again and freeze, her eyes were locked on what could only be Hass and little Finn. I walk over to her and stood next to her, peering out that tiny little window above her sink. Then I see what she was looking at and smile warmly to myself. Hass was chasing Finn around, the two of them were laughing and playing. Finn ran around giggling and screeching like a madman.

"I really want him to meet his father" Annie says suddenly.

I was silent.

"I know its been five years, but I feel like a hole has been ripped into my heart. A hole that can never be filled"

"Finnick wouldn't want you to be sad like this" I tell her.

"I know its just hard because everyday I see him in my son. Everyday I looked into Finnick's deep green eyes that he has left with Finn" There are tears starting to form in her orbs and my heart drops. "Finn asks me about Finnick all the time. He says 'When will I get to meet Daddy? Will it be soon' and every time I tell him that his father is always going to be away, that he never will meet that helped create him. Finn is still too young to understand the concept of death." Her eyes are still locked on Hass and Finn as she speaks, "Is it crazy for me to still be in love with Finnick, to think about him everyday?"

"Absolutely not" I say shaking my head.

"I do, I still love him after all these years" A few tears escape and she brushes them away and then lets a weak smile spread on his lips, "What would the townspeople think of me when they find out little Annie is still in love with her dead husband and after all these years. They would think I am still crazy and maybe I am. What if they decide I am too crazy to raise a child and they take him from me." She is crying now and I can tell that she has been holding this all in for the past couple of years, I drop the deer meat on the counter and pull her into a hug and let her sob. "They will take the last thing I have of Finnick" I stroke her hair and allow her to cry. I dont know where all of her sorrow is coming from, but I can't stand seeing her like this.

"Shh, Your not crazy Annie alright" I say comforting, "They won't take Finn"

"I know...but...How am I supposed to tell him that he is never going to meet his father..." She is sobbing uncontrollably now, "That he is shit out of luck. I want...I want my son to meet Finnick. I want that so badly"

"I know Annie I know"

"I...shouldn't be...crying like...this, but I can't...help it."

Just then the front door opened, Hass and Finn entered chuckling and gently shoving one another. I let my arms drop from around Annie and she quickly wiped the tears away and hid them from her son, but she was not fast enough; Hass and Finn stopped dead in their tracks and examined Annie more closely. The little boy's smile faded as his green eyes focused on his mother. He scurried into the kitchen and wrapped his tiny little arms around her waist.

"Mommy are you alright?" Finn asked.

"Yes honey I'm fine" She lied.

"Why are you crying?" Finn pouted.

"Oh honey I got something in my eye"

Finn smiled, let his arms drop from around his mother's waist and slid into a chair at the kitchen table convinced by his mother's lie, Hass raised an eyebrow unconvinced at Annie's lie. I put the deer meat in the oven and the four of us sat at the table waiting for the mouth watering meat to cook.

"Why don't you tell your mommy what you found on the beach" Hass encouraged Finn.

Finn smiled and dug through his pants pockets, pulling out a small little white seashell, he placed it into his mothers palm and smiled. It was an odd heart shaped shell, I honestly have never seen one before, it was pure white and an extremely rare piece of shell to be finding on the shores of district 4. Annie examined the small object and a large smile spread across her face. Suddenly that look of happiness became a look of sadness which Annie immediately pushed aside. She had to push the sorrow away in order to be strong for Finn; he was the only thing keeping her going.

"It's beautiful Finn"

"You like it mommy?"

"I love it baby" Annie replies, "Why don't you go put it on the shelf"

Finn scurries out of the kitchen and into the living room, I watched him stand on his tiptoes and try to put the shell on the top shelf, but he was just too short, his legs would not allow him to stretch up that high. He glanced over his shoulder and gave his mother a pleading look. I was about to go over and help him set the shell on the shelf but Hass beat me too it. He picked the young boy up gently by the waist and allowed Finn to put the shell on the top shelf. Finn giggled as Hass set him down on his feet and gave him a high five. I looked back at Annie- who was watching every single move Hass made. She was being an overprotective mother. I would be too if my child was hanging out with a complete stranger. There was still so many things about Hass that I didn't know about, some people are not who they seem to be. I guess I needed to find out more about him.

"Hey Hazz" Finn could not pronounce his name correctly, it was just too much of a tongue tier for the little boy.

"What's up my man?" Hass replies.

"Want to see my room, I got lots of neat things in there" Finn smiled.

"Hmm maybe we should help your mom with dinner" Hass suggests.

Finn frowns and wraps his tiny hands across his chest, "But I wanna show you my whole sand dollar I found on the beach a couple days ago"

"It will be fun, come on I'm sure your mother needs help" Hass said, "We can fill our tummy's full and then you can show me"

"Promise?" Finn gives him a suspicious look.

"Pinky swear" Hass holds out his pinky, Finn studies it for a couple of seconds and then curls his finger around Hass. "Good now lets go help your mommy"

"Okay" Finn bolts into the kitchen just as Annie steps out to have a word with my new friend. "Mommy I came to help"

"Just a sec dear" Annie waves him off, he pouts but stays where he is. I run my hand through his bronze curls and smile as he looks up at me with those alerted Sea-green eyes his father has given him. Dear god he looks like his father and I am not being over dramatic either, it really is like looking into a mirror and seeing Finnick for the first time in years; only a smaller version of Finnick.

"Can I have a cookie Katy" Finn asks tugging on my hand.

"Have to wait until after dinner" I tell him.

"No, dessert first and then dinner" Finn smiles.

I roll my eyes, pat Finn on the shoulder and watch him scurry off to take a seat at the table. I glanced into the living room where Hass and Annie were very much deep in conversation about something. I only hope my new friend had not crossed the line in spending time with Annie's son. I quietly walked across the floor and took a seat at the table, one closest to the door. I wanted to hear everything that was going on between the two of them.

"I'm really sorry if he is being too clingy" Annie apologized.

"No,not at all. He's a cute little kid" Hass said and I can hear the smile in his voice.

"Finn tends to get a little overexcited when a male comes into the picture." Annie mumbles.

"No father?" Hass questions in a whisper.

I really wish he had not asked her that. I don't think I can stand to see Annie's tears anymore. There was a brief silence in the room, then Annie cleared her throat, took a deep breath and spoke, "No, Finnick died before Finn was born." I was shocked Annie just told that to a complete stranger, She didn't know him, but yet she just told him her child was fatherless. What's up with that?

"I'm sorry" Hass says in a sincere voice.

"Oh no don't be, I just...wanted you to know why he gets excited when males come around like this and that if he is being too clingy let me know."

"He's fine, I have absolutely no problem with him"

Their conversation was short and sweet and before I knew it they were back in the kitchen and the meal was ready for our hungry bellies. We ate dinner, chatted, laughed at how Finn made his deer meat talk. Well I giggled a bit, Annie scolded him and told him if he played with his food any longer he would be punished. After dinner Annie gave little Finn permission to show Hass his room and the two of them bolted upstairs leaving me and Annie alone to do the dishes.

"Where did you meet him?" Annie asks.

"Huh?"

"Hass, Where did you meet him?"

"He lives in district 12" I dried a large glass plate and debated weather or not I should tell her that Hass saved me from being raped, "And uh he kind of saved my life" I mutter.

"How so?" Annie asks in curiosity.

"He saved me from being raped" I say.

Annie gasps "Oh my god Katniss, are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine, if it hadn't been for Hass those men would have hurt me" I say.

We were silent for a couple of minutes the only sound were the cups and plates being moved around in the sink as Annie washed them.

"Do you want to stay here until your train leaves?" Annie offered.

I smile, "I really would like that a lot. You have no idea how uncomfortable those large seats are. I mean how do they expect us to sleep on them"

"Who knows. Anyway I got one spare bedroom and someone can take the couch"

"Good my back aches from laying down on those train seats so much"

It wasn't long before Hass walked back into the living room and took a seat next to me on the couch. He stretched his long thin arms over his head and let out a large deep yawn.

"He fell asleep while in the process of showing me his sea creatures" Hass told Annie.

"Alright I"m going to check on him" Annie gets up and walks out of the living room and up the stairs leaving Hass and I alone in the room. I watched his eyes lock onto her as she walked up the large stairs and disappeared from sight.

"She is a sweetheart, her and her son" Hass points out.

"Yeah, they are and Annie has been through so much"

"I really like them" He says.

"I do too" I smile.

Annie walked back downstairs with a handful of pillows and blankets. She set them on the couch next to me and said, "Which one is sleeping on the couch?"

"I will" Hass volunteered.

I got up from the couch and allowed him to stretch his whole body across it. He placed a pillow behind his head and a blanket over his body and within seconds he was sound asleep. He too obviously did not have a good nights sleep on that horrible train. Annie led me upstairs to the spare bedroom, she pecked me on the cheek, said her goodnights to me and then disappeared into her room. I crawled into bed and stared up at the white ceiling above. It was hard to believe I was almost there. Peeta was in my reach, we were in district 4; just a little more and I will have my arms wrapped around him, I will be able to help him rid himself of this venom the capitol injected him with so very long ago. All I had to do was get through 3, 2, and 1, which those Districts were going to be completely hell for me, except 3; I could care less about that district. My thoughts wandered to Peeta, then to Annie and then Hass, Eventually I fell into a deep sleep and that was when the nightmares started.

To Be continued...


	11. Memories And Messages

Sorry I took so long to update, my company I work for is working me like a dog, 48 hour a week, :( I need a vacation. I hope you all can be patient with me. I know this is taking a lot longer than fire and flames did, but I swear I will finish it, it just might take me a long time to do so. This chapter gave me so much problems I had writers block for the longest time and was not sure what direction I wanted the story to take. I still need more votes on the whole should Delly and Gale stay or go.

Chapter 11

Memories And Messages

(Peeta's POV)

I was tired of being in this place, tired of sitting here glancing out the large glass window and wondering what Katniss was up too. Was she safe and sound in her bed? Was she still crying over me? I hated it when she cried, the tears that flew from her beautiful gray eyes. It breaks my heart every time she cries. It was 2 in the morning and sleep would not find me no matter how hard I tried. The nightmares had woken me up and had no intentions of letting me go back to sleep. The nightmare was the worst one I have ever had in my entire life. I was in the woods and in my hands was her heart, her body lay at my feet, she was so pale, so cold, her eyes were wide and there was no life left in them. I stood there smiling as I held her heart in my hands. I wanted this to end. I wanted my unwanted hatred I had for her to vanish. There had to be something I could do to get rid of it. That was my whole purpose for being in the capitol-to get rid of this venom. I peered out the window into the dark streets of the capitol. It has not really changed since the last time I have been here. The only thing that changed was City Circle and the president's Mansion. They were rebuilding that and expanding it to be bigger. It has been five years since the rebels swarmed this area and bombed them, you think after five years they would be done with the reconstruction of this particular area. No such luck, this was such a huge part of the city I don't think they will ever be done with it. So many memories rush back to me, just by looking at the place. I can see the bombs that filled the sky, the capitol children that burned and screamed out in pain as fire engulfed their innocent bodies. Dear sweet Prim trying everything she can to help people. It's not fair someone so young and so innocent had to die unfairly. She had her whole life ahead of her and all of that was snatched away from her because of some sick and twisted war, because that monster of a president Coin bombarded the City circle with children, teenagers, citizens and sweet dear, innocent Primrose.

I rose from my sitting position by the window and crossed the room with my hands on my hips. I was dressed in only a pair of sweatpants. Why was I even thinking of events that happened so long ago, things that will never happen again. It's this place... it brings out the worst memories imaginable. I crossed the room and entered the large impressive kitchen. I was so glad Haymitch and Effie changed hotels. The one we previous were staying in was horrible, rundown and nasty. I didn't even know something like that even existed in the capitol, The capitol was filled with such classy and rich people, rich building and beautiful luxuries. A hotel that was run down would make the capitol look bad, so why have it here? I flickered on the Kitchen, dinning room and living room lights and in an instant the whole place became bright. I could not get over how incredibly large this place is, it almost felt like an apartment.

I began pulling mixing bowls from the cabinets, thank goodness they had flour and sugar stashed in the cabinets as well. I pulled out all the baking ingredients that I could find and began mixing them together. I was not sure what I was making just yet. Something about throwing ingredients together like this soothed my nerves after a nightmare. After a couple minutes of mixing and beating I had batter to make a plain batch of bread, but decided I was in the mood for something a little more delightful. Banana bread. I loved the taste of it, it had to be my most favorite type of bread out there. When the batter was done I placed the mixture in the pan and into the hot oven. I walked into the living room while my bread was baking and plopped down on the comfortable couch. I scooped the remote up from the lamp stand next to me and turned on the massive TV. The sound blasted through the speakers and I quickly shut it off in fear of waking Effie and Haymitch up. Haymitch could sleep through an earthquake so I was not worried about him. Effie though was a light sleeper. I figured that out when we were on the Victor's tour.

I fiddled with a few things before deciding to go back into the kitchen and check my banana bread. It was far from done. I spotted a large cordless phone that was hanging off the wall. I want to hear her voice, I always want to hear her voice. I slowly walked over to the small sliver phone and picked it up off it's base. Would she be mad for calling at 2:30 in the morning. No I don't think she would. What if she starts crying again. I hate it when she cries over me. I stared at the phone for several minutes before punching in a few numbers. Last time I called Gale had informed me that some piece of trash tried to rape her. I was still beyond angry about that and as soon I was clear and healthily again I was going to go home and beat the guy to death. It angered me that another man would try to touch her in that way. I was the only one allowed to do that. Images of her struggling against a man kept popping into my head, she had to of cried. I clutched my fist and smashed the phone on the base when I got no answer. I need her, I want her, I want to kiss her so hard, I want to hold her, but yet she is millions of miles away. None of my wishes are going to come true, I will not hold her, kiss her, make love to her until I was clean. I will not touch her again until I am normal.

The fresh scent of banana bread started lingering in the area, I hurried to the kitchen and quickly pulled out the pan with my bare hands. There was no oven mitts in sight. The tips of my fingers ached a little bit from the hot pan, but I pulled it out quick enough so I did not get seriously burnt. My mouth water at the very sight of the bread, its edges were dark brown and light on the inside, I only wish I had nuts to add to the batter. Banana nut bread was my favorite. I scarped it out of the pan and place the loaf on a glass plate.. I let the hot pan cool before I placed it in the sink to be washed. I took a knife out of the drawer and cut a very thin slice of the bread. My mouth watered as I ate the bread like a savage. I loved it, its so wonderful and I am so grateful my mother took the time and effort to teach me how to make it. She only took the time and effort to teach me how to bake because it was one less person she had to pay.

My mother made Vex, Bartz and I all work in the bakery for free. She made us bake day and halfway through the night. She did it so she would not have to pay for workers. We had two others that always helped us out, the rest of it was up to My brothers and I, We were sometime so scared to bake because if she did not like the looks of the bread or the taste or the smell or the texture then she would beat one of us across the face with a wooden spoon. I remember one time Bartz had burned a whole loaf to a crisp. She was beyond pissed at him. He had big bruises and scratches on his face for weeks. He had to tell the kids at school he fell down the stairs because if he told them what really happened my mother would of denied it and then beat him some more. I haven't thought about my family, not up until now. The pain I feel when I think of my brothers and father is sometimes just too unbearable. I hated thinking of my mother, remembering how cold and heartless she was. She was a horrible human being, I feel terrible for even saying things like that about my mother, but she really was.

I sliced another piece of bread off the loaf and wrapped the remain bread in tin foil, placed it in the fridge and started to wash the dishes I had dirtied. After I was done with the dishes I shut off the lights and took my place on the sofa. I had nothing to do now but think, there was no way I was going back to bed and become consumed with nightmares. I needed to clear my head, I needed to think about things that I had not thought about in a long while... I needed to do some soul searching.

_Flashback._

_"Peeta and Katniss sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G" Vex screamed at the top of his lungs._

_"Stop it Vex I don't like her, Girls are icky" I screamed._

_Vex winked at Bartz and the two of them took a seat on the couch and continued to tease me about the crush I had on the girl at school. She was pretty with her black braided hair and gray eyes. Everyone in district 12 had gray eyes, but hers were by far the best eyes I have ever seen in my life. I watched her today, she was with her little sister, The two of them looked so happy with one another. Her little sister was Primrose and she had blonde hair. I remember the first time I saw the girl at school, her hair was in two braids instead of one. I remember Daddy saying he wanted to marry her mother, but her mother chose a coal miner instead. I don't understand why._

_"I'm telling her you want to play kissy face" Bartz tormented me and hopped from his sitting position from the couch. He approached me, grabbed me by the wrist and headed towards the door. Vex followed behind._

_"Where are we going?" I asked._

_"Going to show your picture to Katniss" Vex said holing up a small piece of paper. I studied it for a couple of seconds and then my face turned beat red as I read the words on it. Katniss plus Peeta equals love. How did they even get hold of that picture, it was in my book bag. I hated it when my big brothers went through my things. _

_ "Thats a girly thing to do Peeta" Vex laughed. _

_"Is not Daddy said it's a good thing to drawl!" I scream._

_"Peeta your 7 and drawling hearts around a girls name thats pretty girly"_

_"Is not girly" I cry._

_"Peeta is girly, Peeta is girly, he is a little girl. Mommy had a little girl that drawls hearts" They sang_

_"Come on Bartz lets go show this to the Katniss girl from school"_

_"No" I wailed, tears streamed down my face, "I'm telling dad"_

_"Your such a little girl Peeta" Vex laughed and proceeded towards the door._

_"Please don't tell her" I begged._

_"Relax Peeta we are jsut messing with you" Bartz laughed and slapped my brother's hand. They chuckled, handed e my drawling and disappeared from my sight._

End of Flashback.

I miss my brothers most of all. I miss their teasing, their sense of humor and their love they had for our family. Vex was the oldest, Then Bartz, then me. Mother could not have a girl if her life depended on it. She hated kids so I don't understand why she had three of us. It was a complete and total disaster when I asked her that one day.

Flashback.

_She was sitting at the table examining the bread I had just given her, I only hoped I did it to her satisfaction. My heart pounded in my chest because I knew if she didn't like it then I was getting hit. She looked up at me with her hateful blue eye and raised an eyebrow._

_"Finally did something right for a change" She shot me this look that sent shivers up my spine. I stood there unable to move. She got up from her seat and took the loaf of bread to the counter._

_"Mother?" I mumble softly._

_"What boy?" She asked setting the bread in plastic wrap._

_"Can I umm...Have a loaf"_

_She turns to me and a devious smile spreads across her face "Your a freaking idiot boy"_

_"I just want one loaf. I never ask you for anything mother. I love the taste, just one loaf. Please" I mumble._

_Mother is silent for a long while, the only sound that could be heard in the kitchen was the sound of plastic being wrapped around the delicate bread. I kept my head bent low, unable to make eye contact with her. The sound of the drawl opening caused my eyes to rest on her and as soon as my eyes met hers a wooden spoon made contact with the side of my cheek. She hit both of my cheeks about five times each before deciding to throw the spoon in the sink._

_"Boy you know better than to ask such ridiculous questions. Stupid child, stupid kids. I hate kids" She mumbled the last part to herself._

_"Then why have three!" I hissed at her which was a big mistake._

_"Are you getting mouthy with me Peeta?"_

_"I'm just asking a question"_

_"Come here boy" She was standing by the hot stove, stirring a pot of fresh soup for dinner. I obeyed her and approached her cautiously, not sure what she was doing._

_"You wanna know why I had you kids" She hissed._

_"Enlighten me" I back mouthed her._

_She was silent for a couple of seconds, she stood unmoving, eyes fixed on the pot of bubbling noodles that bubbled in the soup. Suddenly she used her forearm to viciously knock the pot off the stove, before I had a chance to distance myself from her, she grabbed my hand in a tight grip and laid the palm of my hand on the hot stove where the pot had just been cooking. I yelp in pain as the scolding hot flames burned into my flesh._

_"Workers, You children are all workers. Its better to make your own workers than to hire them, that way we wont have to pay them" She pressed my palm against the stove harder and I bit my lip, trying everything I can to keep tears from falling from my face. "Any other questions Peeta?"_

_"No... mother" I choked out._

_She finally let go of my hand. "Good now clean this shit up and make a new pot of soup"_

_End of Flashback._

I blinked a couple of times as the memories of my mother faded. She truly was a horrible human being. She put us through nothing but hell, but I got to hand it to her she was one hell of a cook. I rise from my sitting position on the couch and made my way back to bed, glancing at the clock it read 2:45 still really late in the night to be up and about. I crawl into bed for yet another sleepless night. The only way I get a good night sleep is when Katniss is sleeping next to me. She saves me from the nightmares and I save her. I rest my head against the fluffy pillow and allowed my mind to continue to wander from memory to memory. I can do nothing else but think about my past and sort through my memories. Starting with the ones of my family, my time in the arena and then...the ones I had of Katniss. My mind wandered moments after her and I made love for the very first time not only a couple months ago.

_Flashback_

_"Are you alright Kat" My breathing was still ragged and sweat covered my entire body, I was laying on top of her panting, trying desperately to regain my breath, she ran her hands up and down my bare back. The sheets came up to my waist, the room was extremely hot that it was almost unbearable. I can't believe we did this after I tried to kill her, after I took a knife and cut her. I should of stopped it before anything began to happen between us. I hope I wasn't too rough with her. She cried out a lot. I don't know if those were cries of pain or pleasure._

_"Your trembling Peeta" She pants and kisses me weakly on the lips._

_I laugh and peck her on the lips before laying my head on her soft chest. "Well then you know it was good"_

_"Peeta Is it normal to shake like this?" She asks in concern._

_"I don't know. I think so"_

_"I'm worried your shaking so much" She runs her hands through my hair and peck my forehead._

_"I'll be alright" I assure her. I gave her one last peck before rolling off of her and resting my head on the puffy pillow. Katniss curled up against my side and laid her head on my chest. I placed an arm around her and began grazing her bare shoulders._

_"Did I hurt you?" I asked._

_"A little" She replied honestly._

_"I'm sorry" I apologized._

_"Don't be it was wonderful" She said and I could tell by the tone of her voice that sleep had almost taken her completely._

_"Want to get up and get dress?" I asked her._

_"No I want to lay here and listen to your heart beat and think to myself how much I love you"_

_I was completely and totally blissful._

_End of flashback._

I thought about everything, about my torture, about Katniss and how I tossed her that bread, I thought about my father and brothers, my mother unfortunately. I thought about all the times Katniss and I made love and every single time we made love she would rest her head on my chest afterwards. She loved listening to the beat of my heart, every inhale and exhale of breath I took. Eventually my eyes closed and I fell back into a deep sleep with nothing but images of Katniss flooding my mind.

The next morning I woke to the sound of thunder stomping through the capitol skies. I pulled back the blankets that wrapped around my body and pulled myself out of bed. When I walked into the kitchen Haymitch was sitting at the table with a coffee in one hand and a slice of my banana bread in the other. Effie was nowhere to be found which was a good thing because I really did not want to hear these two fight. Effie had to pick and say things about Haymitch's girlfriend Avara from district 4. Effie only said rude things about her because she was jealous and in love with Haymitch for some strange reason. I passed the bathroom, hearing the sound of running water as I passed the closed door. Obviously she was taking a shower and would take hours to get ready. She would spend three hours on her hair, trying to decide which wig was proper to wear, then she would take another forty-five minutes trying to decide what outfit to wear and another twenty on shoes. I will never understand women and their need to look good. Katniss hates it when her prep teams dolls her up and forces her to dress fancy.

"Morning Kid" Haymitch greets me.

"Morning" I let out a long yawn and greet him back.

"Sleep well?"

I shook my head, "Not really"

Does he really have to ask that. Haymitch knows Katniss and I suffer from severe nightmares and sleep disorders. He knows the only way for either of us to get a good, proper nights sleep is to be in each others arms and face the nightmares together. Katniss and I will always have nightmares about the games, the war and death for as long as we live. There is no getting over things like that. Haymitch just turned forty-seven and he still has nightmares about his games that have been over for years.

"Paylor has summoned us to the president mansion" Haymitch blurts out and takes a sip of coffee. I like seeing him drink coffee rather than booze, it goes to show me he is really trying hard to quit.

"What for?" I question.

"She just has a couple questions for you" Haymitch says.

"About?"

Haymitch sighs in frustration, "Gosh boy I don't know didn't ask"

"When do we leave?" I question.

"As soon as Effie is ready" Haymitch replies.

It took Effie another couple hours to shower, dress, hair, make-up and shoes,but by the time she was done The clock only hit noon. We still had plenty of time in the day. Effie came out of the bathroom dressed in a tight blue dress, matching shoes and a blue wig. Her dress attire always fascinated me. I honestly don't know how that woman can stand wearing things like this. I knew one thing Katniss hated things like this, She hated being dolled up , Jeans and a t-shirt were her best friends.

"Alright boy ready to go see the fabulous lady Paylor?" Effie clapped her hands in excitement.

The sound of Haymitch phone caused Effie and I to jump, Haymitch chuckled a couple of times before answering his cell phone. His eyes lit up as soon as whoever was on the other end started talking. It could be only one person and that was Avara. She was the only person who could make Haymitch glow like that. He started talking to her, telling her how much he misses her, telling her that he will be home soon. I had to hid my laughter from Effie. Her face became beat red and she clutched her fists in anger. Effie was so jealous of Avara that even a blind man can see it. He talked to her for a long while then his face dropped and his expression became serious. Something Avara had said caused his mood to change. Haymitch moved his eye so they rested on me and he let out a large sigh. He told Avara goodbye and that he will see her soon before hanging up on her. He turned to me with a serious expression on his face and all I can think about was that something had happened to Katniss.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked frantically.

"Boy I think you better sit down" Haymitch says to me.

I didn't listen to him, "Katniss?" He nods and it takes everything in my power not to drop to my knees and burst into tears like a little baby. What was wrong with her? Did she become so depressed by my absence that she hurt herself.

"She is on her way here boy" Haymitch finally says.

I raised an eyebrow at him and then my sad feeling became anger. She was on her way here? I can't believe this I just can't. I wanted to protect her from myself and the only way to do that was being separated. I could go into an episode at any time and it was best to go into one without her being around; it was safer that way.

"What do you mean she is one her way?" I hiss.

"Boy sit down"

I refused and stomped my foot on the ground like a two year old. "What do you mean Haymitch? What did Avara say?"

"Avara has been tending to my house, keeping it clean and running it during my absence" He begins.

"I don't care about that, what of Katniss?"

Your friend Delly and Gale..." I cut him off.

"I am not friends with Gale." I spat out.

Haymitch shot me a dirty look for interrupting him. "Gale and Delly told Avara that Katniss left District 12 a couple days ago and is believed to be heading in this direction. They tried to get a hold of someone, either you or me but they didn't know how. Finally Delly thought she would visit my girlfriend" Haymitch explained.

"They should of told us a little fricking sooner" I did not say fricking, I used curse words because me temper was up. I was not mad at Katniss for leaving district 12, I was just mad at the whole situation I find myself in. I wish I wasn't so weak. I wish I would have been strong enough to fight the flashbacks and false memories, I wish I was strong enough to have been able to fight the capitol and not have been a POW, if I was strong I would not have been captured, tortured, Hijacked and the baby would still be forming inside the woman I was in love with, But no all of that happened because I was weak and could not take care of myself.

"Listen boy I am just telling you what Avara said Delly and Gale told her; Katniss drugged their coffee or tea, whatever and she is on a train here with some strange guy she met." As soon as the words left Haymitch's mouth my temper flared hotter. Katniss was with a man? Really? I was beyond angry and wanted to hit someone or something,I spotted my target sitting on the coffee table and sent what looked like a very expensive vase across the room. It shattered in a million piece. Effie squeaked, yelled at me and hurried off into the kitchen to fetch a broom and dustpan.

"Why are you getting so mad about this Peeta?" Haymitch asked.

"Because I did this for a reason. I had to distance myself from her. I can't be near her I'll...I'll...I"LL KILL HER" I kicked the coffee table over this time. Suddenly images began to flash through my mind, images that confused me greatly.

"Peeta control your anger, relax boy" I took a deep breath and focused on Haymitch's words, "Anger is the number one key to your episodes"

"I hate myself this is all my fault...Everything is my FAULT!" I scream the last part, "I'll hurt her Haymitch I'll kill her"

"Perhaps we should calm the boy down soon" Effie butted into our conversation and for some reasons her words made my temper worse.

"This has nothing to do with you so stay the hell out of it." I could feel my sense of reality start to slip away. Images of Katniss killing my family began to flood my mind and soon I lost it. I lunged towards the hotel room door, desperate to get away from the mockingjay's people. They kidnapped me, holding me here, I'm a hostage. It's only a matter of time before the mutt appears and takes my life. I needed to find my way back to Mr. Snow. She'll kill me like she killed so many other, Like she killed mom, dad, Vex and Bartz. Why did she allow me to live? What was I to her?

"Peeta fight it" I hear her mentor scream at me. I did not fight anything, did not focus on anything this man was telling to focus on. Instead I dropped to my hands and knees and threw up all over the floor, then I passed out in my own pool of vomit and fell into unconsciousness.

When I woke up my head hurt so badly, I found myself in a comfortable bed. It was dark outside so I immediately knew I had ruined our meeting with Paylor. I rubbed my temples and pulled my body out of bed. Haymitch was sitting on the couch staring out the dark window with what looked like a glass of whine in his hand.

"Thought you quit" I lightly scolded.

"One wont hurt me" He mumbles.

"What will Avara think?"

"She doesn't have to know its only one, Peeta"

We were silent for a couple minutes.

"Did I hurt you?" I ask breaking the silence.

Haymitch shakes his head, "No but you scared the shit out of Effie"

"I don't remember it" I say honestly.

"Doesn't surprise me, From what I learned from your hijacking its emotions that trigger it and anger seems to be the big one. " I think back on the time when I had a fight with Gale in District 12 town square, Katniss came and broke us up. I remember being so angry at Gale for picking a fight with me and then the next thing I knew Katniss is sitting in the bathroom crying her eyes out, her arm is cut and there is a bloody kitchen knife in my hand. Then there was the one when her and I were having sex and I remember feeling blissful one moment and then the next angry. I don't know what was wrong with me that night we had sex and the night I killed our baby.

"I'm stuck with it huh?" I asked in a low voice.

"No" Haymitch replies, "We will find something that will help you."

"I know Haymitch, There is no cure I'm going to be a monster for the rest of my life"

"Stop it kid" Haymitch scolds, now he is getting a bit annoyed and angry.

"I"m not a child Haymitch you don't have to pretend anymore..." I pause and ran a hand through my blond hair, "Go home to Avara. Take Effie with you"

"What about you? What would you do if I leave?"

I smile gently, "The capitol has lots of things"

"And Katniss? You'll break her if you do this to her"

Sorrow filled my body as her name escaped his lips. "I have to do it Haymitch its the only way I can ensure her safety. She is never going to be safe around me, I don't want to do it, but I have to"

"Do what?" He looks at me confused.

"I'm going to break-up with her and send her back to 12"

To Be continued...


	12. Looking into the Mirror

Hello hello hello how are you all, Next chapter is up please try and enjoy it and again sorry it took so long. As soon as I am off six day mandatory I will be writing a lot more, promise. It's hard for me to have one day off a week, I never wanna do anything but relax, but I will be off six days soon and chapters will be coming in sooner. One more thing I was going through some pictures of people out of boredom. I think this one girl would be a very good Delly if shown in the movie what do you think. I'm going to stick it as my profile picture for about 24 hours take a look tell me watcha think. Love you guys and don't forget to review, Ps this chapter is kinda sappy.

Chapter 12

Looking into the mirror

(Gale's POV)

Its been a couple days since Delly and I went to Haymitch's place and told his girlfriend that Katniss was making a break for the capitol and that we had no way of getting a hold of Mellark or Haymitch. It was Del's idea to warn Haymitch and Mellark of Katniss's arrival, but we had no way in getting ahold of either of them so Delly suggested that we seek out Haymitch's Girlfriend Avara-who was spending all of her time cooped up in Abernathy's home, cooking, cleaning and keeping herself busy. That was about four days ago and Del has not talked to me since then. She was still upset with me over the fight her and I had a couple days ago. She found out I was using her for my own distraction, she got upset and started wandering the streets of district 12 only to come in contact with that trash York. I was still angry that he decided it would be smart to threatened my sister. So to be on the safe side I had Vick, Rory and Posy take the remaining bedrooms in Katniss's large house. Vick and Rory hated the idea of leaving moms house behind and fought me every step of the way, but when I told them it was for their own safety they dropped the argument and gathered their things, Posy on the other hand was very excited and couldn't wait to have some girl time with Del and Catnip, but when she arrived and discovered Catnip wasn't here anymore, she pouted and her mood fell. Which Del cheered her up in an instant by telling Posy she was going to braid her hair and they were going to have girl time. Posy was excited for that.

My brothers and sister liked Del just as much as they liked Katniss. Oh Katniss, I miss her so much and really wanted to go after her and make sure she was alright, to help her through her issues, to open her eyes to facts; Mellark was no good for her, but who was I to break them up, that would come on its own if it was meant to be. As much as it pains me to make this choice and god knows I am going to regret it, but I am not going to the capitol to be with her. I could not leave my family and my girl-...What was Delly to me? Just a girl. What would happened to her and my family if I up and left the district in search of Catnip. I would be giving that monster York every opportunity to hurt them, they would have nobody here to protect them. I don't want to even imagine the things York would do to Del or my sister. I pushed those thoughts away, I was not going anywhere, at least not right now anyway.

It was early in the morning when I decided to drag my lazy body out of bed and shower. The sun was just begging to rise over the horizon and district 12 was just beginning to stir. I slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt after my shower and stalked lazily downstairs to fetch myself some breakfast. The hunger I was feeling in my stomach was to much to ignore. Immediately the scent of mouth watering waffles pierced my nostril and I could feel the drool forming at the corner of my mouth. It was time to eat like a savage, I was just about to enter the kitchen when I heard my sisters voice and then Dellys.

"What should I do then?" Posy asked.

I hear Delly set down the spatula and her tiny footsteps came across the kitchen floor. She pulled out the chair and it scarped across the floor. "Well Posy you could many things, You could ignore him, You could tease him back, you could tell on him or you could do my personal favorite: slap him one, but don't do that you will get in trouble. I would ignore him"

"That wont work he will still tease me about my hair and clothes" I hear a pout in my sisters voice. I didn't even know she was getting teased at school. Why didn't she come to me with this. I was her big brother. I was here to protect her from little punk asses from school, but yet she goes to Del. Girls. I will never understand them and their need to communicate with each other like this.

"You could tell someone" I peeked around the corner just in enough time to see Delly brush a strand of Posy's hair behind her shoulder.

"Then he'll call me a tattle tale."

"Can I tell you a secret" Delly says in a low voice.

"What?" Posy whispers excitedly.

"When a boy makes fun of you that means he likes you" Delly says and the two of them started giggling.

Posy gets a big smile on her face and takes a bite of her waffle. I want to beat the kid who was picking on her or humiliate him or something. Posy swallows her food and smiles at Delly. The two were silent for a second then Posy asked Delly a question that I was dying to hear the answer to.

"Do you like Gale?"

Delly did not answer right away I could see the mental battle she was having with herself. She is unsure if she should tell my little sister her true feelings about me. What were her true feelings.

"It's a little complicated"

"What's so complicated about you wanting to kiss my brother and do things with him"

Delly laughed and her face reddened. "How old are you?"

"Ten" Posy replies.

"Alright don't talk about that stuff"

I decided that was enough eave dropping. I walk into the kitchen making myself known. Delly's eyes made contact with mine for a spilt second, her face fell and she got up from the chair, making her way back to the stove to flip the waffles. I was irritated at her behavior. She has not talked to me in about three days and it was getting a bit annoying. Yeah I can see her being mad at me for using her like I did, but come on the silent treatment was something two year olds did.

"Morning Gale" my sister greeted me happily.

"Morning goose" I smiled back.

She giggled at her nickname and shoved a large piece of waffle in her mouth. I took my eyes off of Posy for a second and looked over at Delly-who had her back to me. She was staring hard at the waffles in front of her, she was trying hard not to look up at me.

"Morning Del" I greet her loud enough so she can hear me.

No response. If She wants to act like a little kid and ignore me let her, I don't care.

"Where is Vick and Rory" I asked my sister.

"They went to school early, said they would walk because they were going to stop at the hob" Posy explains.

The little girls hops off the chair and hands Delly her plate. Delly pats her on the head, gently grabs the plate from her and turns her back towards me once again. It was really making me mad. Her silence was getting to me. I don't care, I don't care, that was what I have to keep telling myself. I don't care how she acts. As soon as my sister was out of sight I approached Delly and as soon as I did she tried moving away from me, but I would not have any of that I gently grabbed her, twirled her around quickly so that she was facing me. Then I moved her body backward so she was pressed against the kitchen sink, both my hands were on either side of her, blocking her from an escape.

"Don't ignore me"

She remained silent, her eyes refused to lock with mine.

"Please Del"

Silence.

"Stop acting like a child."

Silence.

"God Dammit Delly"

"Leave me alone Gale" She said. It was the first thing she has said to me in a long time, four days to be exact.

"No I will not leave you alone" I say leaning into her more. She smelled wonderful; like sugar and waffles.

She tries to move but my hands come up to both her arms, holding her in place.

"I told you I was sorry what more do you want from me" I hiss.

"You have no idea what you've done to me"

She is confusing me, "What?"

"You heard me"

I felt my temper flaring, "I kissed you, I didn't feel anything so what, get over it" Oops now I feel like shit for being hostile towards her.

"You don't understand"

"Help me understand Del, Talk to me. I am willing to be your friend okay. Who cares if we are nothing more than friends."

That part was true I wanted to be Delly's friend, she was a sweet girl, someone I could really get along with. Besides being friends was better than being enemies. She was just being stubborn at the moment. All she had to do was get over this tiny crush she had on me and then everything will be normal again, we will be friends and I can finally watch Mellark and Katniss's relationship fail. I know I shouldn't say things like that, but Mellark is not good for her. I have known Katniss since we were kids. I know her inside and out; Mellark doesn't.

"I can't be your friend Gale" Delly's strained voice brought me back from my thoughts.

"Why not?"

"Because I let you kiss me, because you've laid in my bed with me and held me, because you let me sob into your chest, because you made me fall in love with you and I never thought I'd be able to let another human being do those things to me, I never thought I'd be able to trust a man, I never thought I'd be able to let a man kiss me like that. You were so gentle when you kissed me not like him" She is starting to crying and I can see I am only making things worse on her, "When You held me the night York threatened Posy and I; for the first time in a long time I felt safe and secure. No man can make me feel safe like that, but you did"

"I'm sorry Del I really am" I apologize.

"You still don't get what you have done to me"

"Make me get it Del!" I was loosing my patience with her, "I'm standing right here, all ears opened, Just please talk to me. Tell me how I can make things right between us"

"Fine how about this I trusted you, fell in love with you and you crushed me. I let you kiss me, I let you touch me even after I was..." Her voice trails off and tears stream down her face, I lifted her chin with my fingers and used my thumbs to wipe the tears away. She turned her head so I'd lose grip on her delicate face. Just then Posy stuck her head into the kitchen and gave me a warm smile, her eyes wandered to Del and her smile suddenly faded.

"Delly, What's wrong?" Posy's eyes darted between the two of us. I backed away from Del and allowed her to walk pass me towards my sister. She wiped the tears from her eyes and gave Posy a smile indicating that everything was alright.

"Why are you crying?" Posy asks eyeing me suspiciously.

"Oh sweetie I'm not" Delly assured her, "Got something in my eye"

"Well alright then I just wanted to let you guys know bus is here"

"Have a Good day sweetie" Delly waved goodbye to my sister and Posy waved at me. She was out of sight and as soon as I heard the front door shut I was by Del side again. I had no intentions of letting things go. We were fixing the problems between us here and now. I wanted to be her friend so badly.

"Where were we?" I ask her.

She sighs deeply, "Not now Gale I got to go" Se says and makes an attempt to move past me towards the front door, but I grab her gently around the waist.

"Are we friends then?"

"No"

"Dammit Del your giving me a headache"

"You don't understand."

"SHIT Make me understand!" I scream.

"I was raped Gale. OKAY there I said it. Poor happy, innocent, sweet Delly Cartwright was raped by the stepfather." She was crying again.

I was beyond shocked, how dare someone do this to her. I took a step back feeling more disgusted with myself. This woman in front of me; she was raped, but yet she put her haunted past aside and allowed me to kiss her, kisses that could of well reminded her of that bastard disgusting lips devouring her neck and every inch of her body. I held her with hands that could of reminded her of the monsters hands that touched her in her most private places. I am a sick bastard, here I am using this poor woman for my own enjoyment, for my own distraction. I never had any intentions of getting serious with her and to think she pushed all her memories of getting raped aside just so she could give me chance. I never wanted a chance, but she did. She thought since I was kissing on her and holding her that I wanted to get serious with her, that I was giving her a chance. Thats not it. It took a lot out of her for her to give me a chance and love was something I didn't want. Not with her. I wanted it with Katniss, but now I don't know what I want , who I want. I'm beyond confused.

"It takes a lot out of me to allow a man to kiss me. I try hard not to remember the touches he gave me or the sloppy rough kisses he forced with me."

"I"m sor..." She cut me off with a gentle slap to the face. The slap hardly hurt my cheek but it stung deep into my heart.

"I didn't want to open up to you just so I could be used" She yells and tries to shrug out of my grip, this only makes me hold on tighter.

"Tell me what I can do to make this up to you. Tell me Del, I will do anything you ask me too. I give you money, I give you the keys to my mothers house anything to make it up to you, anything to take what I have done to you and wipe it from your memory"

"Don't do anything" She says.

"I'll jump off a bridge for you. I'll Get on live camera and tell all of Panem that I am a worthless piece of garbage for using a wonderful woman like you. What do you want me to do Del, tell me and I'll do it"

"You can leave me alone" She says.

I let go of her and watch as she bolts for the door, she opens it and is out of my sight within seconds.I didn't mean to lead her on like this and would not have even touched her had I known she was raped by that trash of a stepfather. If I ever got the chance to meet that man I was going to make him wish he were never born, I was going to make him wish he was dead and then I was going to grant him that wish. After Delly left my sight I sighed heavily and took a seat on Catnip comfortable couch. For some reason Delly's words pierced my heart 'you can leave me alone' I can't leave her alone, not after what I just discovered. I thought about going after her but then quickly decided against it. Delly needed her space and I was going to give that to her. My mind wandered from thought to thought. I was confused at how I felt about her, I was angry at myself. I was a horrible human being, no wonder Katniss picked Mellark over me. He was sweet, he would never even think about using a woman who was raped. He would never kill children, start fights and raise his voice. He treated his best friend like gold and he treated Katniss like she was a queen. The distance between them just goes to show how much he is willing to sacrifice just so she can be safe. Why can't I be that type of man, a type of man who has everything he ever wanted.

The door suddenly opened up and a teary eye looking Delly came strolling, she didn't look me in the eyes, but as soon as she entered the living room. I bolted from the couch and wrapped her into a hug which of course she struggled. That was fast; she must not have been too angry with me if she was going to come back this quickly. She pounded her hands against my chest and tried breaking my grip. I just hugged her tighter and held on. She was a lot shorter than me so it was easy to hold onto her.

"Let go of me. I wanna get my things" She cried.

"What?" I held her back a little and wiped her tears.

"I promised Peeta I would move in for Katniss and well Katniss is gone, I'm not staying here with you"

"Del, You can't be serious" I say frustrated.

"I am serious"

"Del, Where are you going to go?"

"Don't worry about it" She fires at me.

I can't take this anymore, I gently pushed her back, placed my hands behind my head and began pacing back and fourth. I can't let her out of my sight. That trash York still wanders the streets of 12 and he already seen Del and I together. He could use her against me and I wasn't having that. No way was Del going to leave this house. I was not going to let her get raped twice. I was so confused, my minds was racing a million miles per minutes. I didn't know what I felt for this girl standing in front of me. I wish I could wish away all my emotions I had going through my body at the moment. I have never been the emotional type, I was always the strong,bad ass boy. After I had enough pacing I yelled out and threw my hands in the air.

"I don't know Del! OKAY I DON"T KNOW!" I shout and pounded my fists against one of the living room walls. I continued pounding and pounding the wall until a loud crack forced me to spot. "I don't fricking Know Del alright. I DON'T KNOW!" I screamed and started hitting the wall again, ignoring the pains that were shooting through my left hand.

"STOP IT, GALE" Delly shouts and rushes forwards to grab me by the hand, to stop me from breaking my fist. I already sprained it, I could tell by the pains that were shooting through my hands.

"I don't know Del" I say calmly now.

"You don't know what?" She asks in a small voice.

"I don't know how I feel about you. My mind is racing a million miles per minute" I admit and its true I don't know how I feel about her. I am confusing myself with all these thoughts going through my head. I'm using her, she is nothing more than a pretty face; those will be my thoughts one minute and the next I want to kiss her, hold her, protect her from anything that threatened her. I lied to her when I said I kissed her and did not feel anything. I felt something I just don't know what it was. She took my left hand and examined it closely before leading me into the kitchen to place a cold ice pack on my hand.

"You confuse the hell out of me. I don't know what I want. My whole life is confusing"

She was silent, her eyes remained locked on the floor as I spoke.

"Do you really want me Del?"

She looked up from the ground and into my gray eyes, "Yes Gale I want you"

"Why I'm nothing great" I laugh.

"Your different from other people. Your kinder, I know you are. Deep down there is a sweetness to you"

"Your so stupid Del, You don't know what I have done." I laughed without humor, "I've killed people; Children. I killed Katniss's sister, I yelled at her for loving Peeta. I've had sex with so many women in district 2 during my stay, I got one of them pregnant and left her after the kid died, even though she begged me to stay" I rub my temples in frustration, "I lied to Catnip, told her it was the woman who threw me away like I was trash. I don't deserve Catnip or you or anyone for that matter. I should of died during the war, should of died when that whip came across my back. I should of let that Head peacekeeper whip me to death."

"Gale stop!" She shouts, tears still streaming down her face.

"No, Its true I should be dead. Maybe if I died from the whippings Katniss's sister will still be alive. It's my fault that Mellark left her. If I had not provoked him into having his episode shit then everything would be fine. I screw up everything, I should of never came back to 12, should of put a bullet in my damn mouth as soon as the war was over. I'm an piece of trash Del, I should be dead I..." I did not get to finish my sentence because she came up to me, stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. We kissed for a couple of seconds before she pulled away and stepped back from me. I was completely shocked she decided to kiss me after everything I have done to her.

"Stop talking like that please"

"I'm an asshole Del, I'm a prick, an arrogant, cocky murdering bastard."

"Yeah well I'm in love with a asshole, a prick, a arrogant, cocky Murdering Bastard"

"I'll just hurt you"

"I know"

"You don't want to be with me Del, I am fuc..."She places her tiny hand over my mouth.

"Language Gale" She lightly scolds

I lean forward and kiss her, moving my good hand up so its tangled into her hair.

"Can we try?" She asks as soon as our lips part.

"Do you want to?"

"Do you?" She asks.

"Yes." Did I just say yes, What is wrong with me.

With that said She stands on her tiptoes again and attempt to kiss me. My height makes it difficult for her to do so, I bend over a bit, meeting her lips in a gentle kiss. Her hands come up and weave themselves into my hair. I gently pick her up, dropping the Ice pack to the ground and ignoring the pains in my sprained hand, I was careful where to place my hands, . I place them on her back and to my surprise she wraps her legs around my waist and deepens the kiss. I have to admire her, she is brave for a woman. Not many woman would behave like this if they were raped. I gently carried her across the kitchen, into the living room and set her down on the couch. Our lips part and Delly sets her head on my shoulder.

"Please...If your going to use me again tell me before we try this" She says. I'm not going to use her again, that I can say.

"I'm not going to use you Delly" I say honestly. I'm not going to try and fall in love with her either. Whatever happens between the two of us happens I'm no longer going to try and prevent it.

The day was a slow one, Del and I sat around the cozy fire. Snow started up again, making the once green land white again. I was really get sick and tired of the winter season. It was supposed to be spring by now, it was odd weather we were having. In a instant Katniss's house became an icebox, the wind outside whistled so loudly that it almost sounded like a tornado was going to occur. Although it would not surprise me if a Tornado occurred during winter. That was how bizarre our weather was. The window rattled as the wind picked up outside.

"Are you warm enough Del?" I ask her.

"Yup I'm good" She replies.

We were silent for a couple of minutes nothing but the sound of the wind ragging outside filled our ears. Delly was wrapped in a large blanket and cuddled against my side. She seemed so warm and relaxed. The fire was bright and alive in the fireplace and was slowly warming the living room. The wind was so strong outside that it managed to take out the power and make everything in the house go black. Delly jumped a small bit and tensed up as the lights went out. The only source of light was from the fire and the light that was peering through the window. Delly got up from the couch and slowly threw the blanket from her body.

"Where are you going?" I asked her.

"Katniss has to have candles around here somewhere" she says.

"Look in the kitchen" I tell her.

She nods and stalks out of my sight. I glance over my shoulder and stare at the barely visible clock on the wall it is almost noon which means my sister and brothers are still and school and I won't have to worry about their safety because the teachers will take good care of them. I get up from my siting position on the couch, stretch my arms over my head and walk across the floor to peer out into the ragging snow storm.

"Its so beautiful" Delly smiles as she reenters the room with a couple candles in her hand. She sets them down on the coffee table and uses a red lighter to light their wicks.

"Nothing about snow is beautiful" I say.

"The color of it"

"Del its a plain white color" I chuckle quietly.

"Yeah, true but if you look at it closely in the sunlight, its like thousand of tiny diamonds are reflecting off of it. It's beautiful" Delly sits back down on the couch and curls up into a ball, she is shivering which means it must be extremely cold in the kitchen. I walk over to Katniss's thermostat and crank it to high 80. I take back my seat next to her and as soon as I sit down she curls against my chest. We were silent for a couple of minutes before I blurted out the question that has been on my mind since we got into this conversation about 'us'.

"Is the bastard dead?" I ask suddenly.

"What?" Delly lifts her head off my chest and raises her brows, "Huh?" She is confused.

"Your step-father is is laying in a ditch dead somewhere?" I question again.

She shakes her head "No, He was in jail for about five years and now he is living in District 5" She says.

"Are you afraid he will come back to 12?"

"No, Hes not allowed near me" She says and snuggles deeper into my side.

"You know I would never hurt you like that right. I may be a asshole, but I wont hurt a women like that"

She leans up and kisses me on the cheek "I know Gale"

We were both quiet, the sound of the wind grew stronger and stronger, finally I closed my heavy eyes and fell into a deep sleep with Delly curled up against my side. I guess we could do this ,we could be boyfriend and girlfriend just for a little while. I needed this talk that her and I had, I needed to look into the mirror and see the ugly man beneath the beautiful skin. I lost Katniss, the woman I have loved for a very long time. She is never going to leave Peeta and now I know why. She loves him more than life itself and would risk her own life just so she could be with him. I wanted that I wanted a woman that would do that for me, but that was not possible. After everything I have done to Katniss, Peeta and the world, I deserve punishment and that punishment is loneliness. I want to push Delly away, I wanna show her that I am no good for her and then maybe, hopefully she will leave me to a life of misery and solitude, A life I deserve.

To be continued...


	13. Unhappy Reunion

Woot woot finally found time for another chapter. Please enjoy, this is the moment you been waiting for:The reunion. I wanted to make their reunion a bit dramatic, every couple has a happy reunion all the time. This is kind of happy and dramatic at the same time. At least I tried to make it that way. Anyway please read and review, oh yeah I am off of 6 days in 2 weeks I'm soooooo happy :). I'm taking a vacation. Anyway read and review plz and ty.

Chatper 13

Unhappy Reunion

(Katniss's POV)

I glanced out the glass window and watched as large, tall city buildings come into view. They were still massive, maybe more so then the last time I was here. This whole entire trip seemed to fly by. There was nothing to really see in in district 3 and I refused to step foot in district 2 and 1. The memories of people I have killed haunted me and there was a good chance I would of run into Cato's family, or Marvels, or glimmer, I didn't really care about what Clove's family thought of me because I did not kill their daughter. If I had it my way I would not of killed anyone. I had stayed on the train the whole time we were at District 1 and 2. Hass tried to get me off of it, but I fought with him every step of the way. I could not face the families and there was a good chance I would of seen them. My heart started pounding so hard in my chest as the train got closer and closer to the capitol. This place has not changed not one bit. The only part of the city that has changed would probably be city circle, since it was bombed. I didn't want to go there. That was where she...I closed my eyes trying to get the image of my sisters screams and her burns out of my mind. I snapped my eyes open as a large hand came to a rest at my shoulder. I blinked a couple of times and looked up to see Hass's smiling, but yet worried face peering down at me.

"Are you alright kitten?" He asks.

"Yes, I'll be fine"

"Nervous?"

I nodded "Very nervous."

"I'm sure he will be glad to see you" Hass smiled.

I have no doubt Peeta will be glad to see me, but he was going to be extremely mad at me for coming all this way. Oh well he was just going to have to deal with it. I was not going to let him face this alone. I knew what the venom did to him, It made him sick at times, so sick that he would vomit on occasions. He would get headaches and they would be so bad that he would have to lay in bed for about 8 to 10 hours just to get rid of it. I don't care what people say, he needs me and I need him more than anything else in the world and we were going to do this together, we were going to find a cure. Although I don't believe there is one, but Peeta believes it and I have to support him on his choices. I twirled my engagement ring around my ring finger and continued to stare out the window. It was only a matter of time before the train stopped. I would be standing on capitol soil any minute now.

"Kitten?"

I glanced up at Hass and smiled as he used my nickname. "Yes?"

"When you and your fiancee reunite please no smooching in front of me" He teased.

I giggled, "We will be doing a lot more than kissing"

Hass's face turned a million shades of red and he hid his face in his hands. "Oh lord" He blushed.

"What haven't you ever had..." He placed a finger against my lips.

"Thats classified information darling" He laughed.

"I guess she was a lucky one to have such a hmmm big man?" I teased.

"Oh my god" He mumbled, blushed and hid his head in his hands"

I laughed at his discomfort and rested my head on the window. I was really tired from the long trip I had just endured and all I wanted to do was lay my head on Peeta's chest and tell him how much I missed him. I wanted to kiss him until he couldn't breath, I wanted to make love to him until we both collapsed from exhaustion, I wanted to marry him, I wanted him to get me pregnant again and I just wanted him. I love him. The train came to a complete stop and a loud voice came over the speakers stating that it was safe to get up and collect our things, that we were finally at our destination. I was scared I haven't seen him in over a month and one week,Thats how long it been since He pushed me down the stairs and caused me to miscarry, thats how long its been since he left me standing there at the train station in tears, with a broken heart. Hass carried my bags even though I told him not to, He ignored my protest and carried my bags and his bags. Boy he had big arms, nice arms too. I may be engaged, but that does not mean I'm not allowed to check other guys out. We exited the train and the bright sun blinded me, causing me to squint. This was an incredibly big city, I was not sure where to start looking for him. I didn't have to look very far because as soon as I stepped foot on capitol grounds a loud, annoying, and all to familiar voice filled my head.

"Your so stupid sweetheart" Came the voice of Haymitch Abernathy.

I ignored his rude comments and flung my arms around his neck, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. I missed Haymitch a lot too. Haymitch hugged me back and then his eyes went to Hass who was standing there, rubbing the back of his neck. This must of been really awkward for him. He doesn't know anyone. I suddenly began to wonder why Haymitch was here, at the train station. I never told anyone but Hass I was coming here. Haymitch must have been waiting for me.

"How did you know I was coming?" I asked him curiously.

"Sweet little Delly and that thing your friends with told Avara and she told me"

"Damn Gale" I muttered.

""Why did you come sweetheart?"

"Why do you think" I frowned at him.

Haymitch's face becomes serious. "He-he doesn't want to come near you"

"Where is he?" I asked in a mere whisper.

Haymitch was silent. He glances over his shoulder and I follow his gaze to find Peeta, standing there with his arms crossed, leaning again a dark black rental car, that would probably take us to the hotel they were staying in. I lost all train of thought, nothing in the world mattered, not Haymitch or Hass, not the loud roar of cars going down the capitol streets. Nothing. Before I knew it I was standing in front of him, my arms wrapped around his neck, my head against his chest, tears of joy and sorrow mixed together, flowing gently out of my eyes. He wiped them away quickly and took a step back, but I would not allow him to put the distance between us. I wrapped my hands around his neck and jumped up to wrap my legs around his waist. He had no choice but to lift me up, it was either that or let me fall and I knew he wasn't going to do that.

"I've missed you" I whimpered.

"I've missed you too" He whispered back.

I leaned forward and tried to kiss him, but he moved his head away and gently set me on my feet. I felt hurt, it was like he just stuck a needle into my heart. Did he not want to kiss me or hold me. For god sake its been a month since we have seen each other. I stared into Peeta's eyes, unable to say anything or do anything but cry. He wiped away my tears and turned to Haymitch and my new friend Hass-who were slowly approaching us.

"Its rude not to introduce me to your charming young friend" Haymitch commented.

I rolled my eyes at Haymitch. "Hass this is Haymitch Abernathy, Haymitch this is Hass Fredrickson"

"And I am Peeta Mellark" He introduces himself.

"Hello its nice to meet you all" Hass said sweetly.

We were all silent for a couple seconds I could see Peeta taking the time to examine every inch of my New friend. He just stood there staring at Hass then back to me. I could tell by the way he clutched his jaw that he was extremely jealousy that another man took the time to travel with me. Haymitch and Hass carried the bags to the rental vehicle. I was about to follow them, but Peeta stood in my path and wrapped his arms around his chest.

"I really want you to get back on that train" He mutters.

I look up at him with nothing but sorrow in my eyes, we have been apart for so long and all he is trying to do is get away from me. I'm losing him I can feel it in my bones. I ignore his comment, push him aside and enter the large rental vehicle. I slid into the seat next to Hass while Haymitch took the front passengers seat so he could chat with the driver. I expected Peeta to sit next to me so I'd be in the middle. No such luck he took a seat next to Hass , placing him in the middle. All three of us remained in an awkward silence. The only sound that could be heard was the chatter of Haymitch and the car driver. I could feel the intensity lingering in the air and obviously Hass could too because he cleared his throat and broke the silence.

"So kitten's told me a lot about you" Hass said to Peeta.

"Has she?" Peeta mumbled.

"Yes she tells me you own that bakery in district 12"

Peeta just nods his head and that was the end of that conversation, he was mad at me for coming and breaking the distance between us, not only that I arrived in the capitol with another man. He was getting the wrong idea, he should know better. As soon as we were alone, away from our friends I was going to let him have it. I was going to yell at him for being so distant towards me. The car zoomed down the busy streets of the capitol. The silence between us was growing to an extremely intense level. My heart pounded in my chest and I had to fight off tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. The car came to a complete stop and Peeta was the first one out followed by Hass, Haymitch and then me.

"Hey kitty, I'm uh..." He rubbed the back of his black head and looked from me to Peeta, "I'm going to wander around, got to clear my head"

"What about your bags?" I asked.

"I got them. I'm going to book myself a room"

"Alright" I said.

Haymitch carried my bags up to the room and I followed feeling my heart nearly break. I can't believe Peeta has barely spoken to me since I got off the train. The room was completely beautiful, there was a door leading to an outside balcony, a large kitchen, A large black fancy couch and chairs, I felt like I was in some sort of apartment. Haymitch set my bags down in the living room and smiled at the two of us.

"When your finished unpacking your welcome to join Effie and I for lunch Sweetheart" Haymitch offered.

"Thank you" I said.

Haymitch shoots us a worried look and then leaves the room. As soon as he did I faced Peeta- who had his back towards me and broke down completely.

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Acting like what Katniss?"

"Don't play dumb with me Peeta. You wont kiss me, you can barely look at me. Why are you so angry at me?"

"Because..." He turns around now so he is facing me and I can see the slight anger that is in his eyes. "Because I left you for a reason, I needed to get this shit out of my brain. Needed to protect you from myself, I'm trying to make myself normal for you, trying to trigger the damn things to see what makes me loose it and I can't do any of that with you here. I can't risk taking a knife and slitting your throat. I wish you would of just stayed away from me!" He was getting angrier and louder with every word he spoke, "But no your too damn stubborn to stay away from me.I told you Katniss I don't need you with me for this"

"But I need you with me so much" I said and allowed the tears to spill.

"I know you need me, But a normal man is what you truly need and I'm trying to be that man." He paused for a moment "You need a man that wont hurt you,that can give you everything and If I can't give that to you then it looks like you already found one of those. Why did he agree to come to the capitol with you?"

"This isn't about Hass, its about us"

"Whats with the nickname Katniss"

"Are you jealous of Hass?"

"Not at all, He seems like a nice fellow" Peeta mutters.

"He is nice" I agree.

"He would be good for you. I rather see you with him than Gale" He says.

"Peeta I love you. He saved me and now we are friends thats all"

"Saved you from being raped?" He questions with anger in his eyes.

"It's a long story" I mutter.

"He is good for you, better than Gale" He repeats.

"I love you. YOU and I came all this way so we can face this together, so we can find a cure together." I shout, "Thats the way it has to be, you and I together. We are nothing without each other."

"There is no cure Katniss. I should of known and since there is no cure I'm not ever touching you again. I won't ever, ever, ever hurt you like that, I could of killed you that night, hell I did kill our son. I"m staying here Katniss, so far away from you."

"Why are you talking like this. What is wrong with you Peeta"

"What is wrong with me! I'll tell you Whats wrong! I killed a unborn child, I threw you down a flight of stairs, I've cut you, I've hurt you so many times and I can't do it anymore. I'm an abusive man that beats the women he is in love with"

"So leaving me is the best thing to do"

"I cant think of anything else to do"

"Find the damn cure" I scream and cry at him.

"You said it yourself there isn't one"

"I'll find one" I cry.

"I need you to get back on that train" He says calmly.

"NO!"

"Go to 12"

"NO! PEETA ,NO!"

"I need you to go back to 12"

"What about you?"

"I'm staying here and your staying in 12" He mumbled. As soon as he mumbled those words I lost it.

"Are you breaking up with me then?" I cry

"I don't want to, but I don't have a choice."

"NO You are not leaving me" My voice is so loud that it would not surprise me if Haymitch and Effie heard us from all the way downstairs. It wouldn't surprise me if everyone in the capitol was able to hear our fight. I didn't care I said the things that came to my mind.

"I have too Katniss just for a bit"

"No" I am breaking, he is breaking me.

"I'm sorry"

"What about all the stuff you said, oh I'll never leave you or I'll be back, I'll marry you" I was crying so badly now that I could no longer see him standing in front of me. The tears clouded my vision and my whole body began to shake. I needed to be in his arms right now. I needed his lips, his warmth I just needed him.

"I'm sorry" He repeated.

"Your not doing this to me, your not going to make me fall deeply in love with you, think everything is alright for five years and then leave me. I let my guard down for you, I did everything FOR YOU! I choose you instead of Gale. You! Your everything to me" I wipe the tears away so I can see again, "I love you"

"What do you want me to do Kat. HUH? Go home? Act like nothings wrong, Act like I am normal. Both you and I both know I am not normal." He rubs his temples in frustration.

"And you think I am? After everything the capitols put me through I'd say I'm more screwed up than you are."

"Don't say that"

"Why its true"

We both stared hard at each other, neither one of us backing down or giving into defeat. I was crying so hard, my emotions were sky high I could not control them. Peeta on the other hand was having an extremely hard time, He clutched his jaw tightly and took deep breaths. The last thing I wanted him to do was fall into an episode. That will really prove to him that I don't belong here. So I did the only I could think of I begged him to hold me.

"P-Please hold me" I choked out.

He stood there as still as a board and sighed deeply. "Katniss I wont..."

"P-p-p-please." I don't think I have ever cried this bad in my entire life.

"Please Kat, don't make this harder than it has to be"

I was so upset and so hurt that I approached him and slapped him hard on the cheek. I don't know why I hit him, I knew I shouldn't hit him, but my heart was breaking right now and it was his fault.

"After everything we have been through, after all the shit you tell me about us getting married, about us starting a family, about us growing old together and dying in our nice warm bed together. After everything, your just going to give up on us? Let Snow win even in death? This is what he wanted...to break me. To break us and its working; its all because of that stupid shit they shoved in your head. Its all my fault If I would of acted differently when we were in the Quell then I could of saved you from being captured, tortured and beaten to death. Everything is my fault Why did you have to stop me from trying to kill myself why did you..." I was cut off as he grabbed me by the arms and shook me, anger was in his eyes as my words sunk in.

"Don't you ever say something like that again. You know damn well why I stopped you and you know damn well why you need to get back on that train. A world without you in it is not a world at all, I love you Katniss and if you want to remain alive you need to be as far away from me as possible because if you die, I die. Thats all there is to it"

I stared into his deep ocean blue eyes and spoke in a low and serious tone of voice. "I'm not getting on that train"

Peeta let go of my arms and threw his hands up in the air. "Your so stubborn and hard head and...I -I...You bring out the absolute worse in me"

"Well then that proves it we belong with each other"

"Not when I still have this venom in me"

I snapped. "Your not breaking up with me" the tears were back and it felt liked he just shoved a knife through my heart. "You would never do that to me"

"I'm not going to be with you until I know for a fact I wont ever abuse you again."

I knew he was acting like this because of the guilt he felt for hurting me and killing the baby. That kind of guilt never goes away. The way I look at it, Peeta never really threw me down those stairs, he never really killed our baby. It was all Snow, that bastard was still haunting me from the grave. Even in death he still finds ways for me to remember him by. We were silent for a couple of minutes. He stood only inches away from me. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and kiss him until he couldn't breath.

"Can I please have a kiss?" I asked after a couple silent seconds.

He shoots me a look. "Katniss please"

"I have not seen you in over a month. I'm miserable. A simple kiss on the lips wont kill me, besides you have been doing it for five years with the venom in you. Now please kiss me"

Peeta sighed in defeat and dropped his shoulders before approaching me, He stood back at arms length and pecked me on the top of the forehead. It was not good enough so I quickly stepped forward and crashed my lips against his before he had a chance to escape. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply and to my surprise he kissed me back for a couple seconds, (like 3 seconds) before breaking apart and turning his back on me.

The rest of the day was slow and horrible for me, Peeta kept his distance from me and Effie started giving me a lecture as soon as Haymitch and her entered the hotel room. She was glad to see me and everything, but very upset with me for abandoning district 12 and coming after them. Hass had not showed up for hours. His bags still lay outside our hotel room door. I have not seen him since we first got here. I wasn't worried though, he was a grown man and could take care of himself, it was just a little odd though. The sun was nearly setting over the horizon and it was the most incredible sight ever. The coloration of the sky was beautiful tonight and I wanted nothing more than to get a closer view.

I excused myself from the table, all four of us were eating dinner quietly. I barely touched anything but the lamb stew, I was not hungry for pork or mashed potatoes. Peeta shot me his worried look as I left my untouched plate sitting there. I slid the sliding door open that led to the balcony and sat down on one of the most comfortable benches out there. The strong warm breeze gently flew through my hair and I watched the massive yellow sun dip below the horizon. So many beautiful colors, purple, orange, with a tint of pink and red and a small amount of blue. I liked this building because it was facing away from the large city, no city lights could be seen. This building was on the edge of town and it was facing away from the city so nothing could be seen but large beautiful wood.I inhaled the fresh scent of the outdoor and laid down completely on the bench. The sound of the sliding glass door opening causes my head to whip around and stare into the eyes of the intruder. Disappointment filled my body as I caught sight of Hass. I was hoping Peeta would join me in watching the sunset, but I guess he had other plans. He smiled warmly at me and moved across the balcony to rest his hands against the railing and peer out over the horizon.

"Where have you been all day?" I asked him.

"Oh here and there" He says.

"Did you find a hotel room for the night"

"Yes actually, right next to yours" He smiles, "Its was the last room open"

I sit up on the bench as he comes across the balcony to take a seat next to me. He studies me for a couple of minutes, noticing the dark circles under my eyes. I did look like hell from all the crying I have done today and from lack of sleep. I did not sleep well why we were on the train.

"Are you tired?" Hass asks.

I nod, "Extremely"

"Then go to sleep" He gently orders.

"I can't" I mumble.

"Why not?"

"Nightmares. I don't want to face them alone. I've been facing them alone for so long"

Hass digs through his pants pockets and pulls out a small looking bottle. He hands me the bottle and I examine it. I have no idea what it is or why he even has it, I noticed the big label on the bottle. These were sleeping pills.

"Why do you have sleeping pills?"

"Your not the only one with horrid dreams"

I had forgotten entirely that the capitol messed his life up too. They killed his family right in front of him. I handed him back the bottle of pills and shook my head. Sleeping pill did not work for me. I have tried them, but the nightmares somehow always seem to creep up on me. I only sleep right in Peeta's arms. He has a way with chasing the nightmares away.

"Are you alright kitty" He asked me after a couple seconds of silence.

"I don't know" I mutter and I can feel the tears begin to rise. "This trip has been long and agony and all I wanted to do was have him hold me again and he cant even do that"

"He seems to worry about you a whole lot, maybe he is doing this because he cares"

"I know thats the reason, but its still hard for me" I say.

"You'll be alright kitty" Hass says. He leans over and gives me a friendly peck on the forehead. I knew it was meant to be friendly just by the way his lips made light contact with my head. He stands up after pulling away and stretches his large arms over his head, giving off a large yawn.

"Well I'm off to bed. Try and sleep. I'll leave these here" He sets the bottle of sleeping pills beside me on the bench and taps my nose with his index finger.

"Night Hass"

"Night kitten" He replies before disappearing from my sight. I lay back down on the bench and stare up at the dark sky. The stars are just starting to litter the black night and it was becoming a bit chilly. I scooped up the bottle of sleeping pills and read the label carefully. Then I popped open the lid and threw one into my mouth, swallowing it without water, I took one more and soon became more tired. I yawn and then no sooner I feel into a dreamless sleep. Thanks to the pills.

(PEETA"S POV)

I watched the stranger shake hands with Haymitch and tell him what an honor it was to meet him. He kissed Effie's hand and told her he was looking forward into getting to know her more. He nodded in my direction and I just shot him a fake smile. I was angry and wanted nothing more than to throw his ass over the balcony railing. I did not like how he kissed Katniss's forehead. I know I shouldn't be jealousy because there was nothing really going on between the two of them. At least I don't think there was. Never can tell. I watched him exit our room. Haymitch shot me a shitty grin and I rolled my eyes at him and glanced towards the balcony door, trying to decide weather or not I should go out there and sit with Katniss. I didn't mean to hurt her, I didn't mean to be out of character and I didn't mean to rip her heart out of her chest by telling her I wasn't going to be with her until my venom was clear.

"Nice young fellow isn't he" I heard Effie chirp.

I rolled my eyes as she went on and on, "It was so nice of him to keep Katniss company, I bet he was taking care of her the whole way. How nice of him."

Suddenly I felt anger boil up inside of me. I rose from the couch and shouted at her. "Shut up Effie" And with that said I stormed out of the living room and made my way onto the balcony. Katniss was asleep on the bench with a bottle of sleeping medicine beside her. She was not thrashing or screaming like she normally did. I gently scooped her up into my arms, not wanting her to sleep out in the freezing cold. She groaned and quietly moaned in her sleep.

"Love you" She moaned in her sleep.

I smiled at her unconscious confession and slid the door open and then closed it behind me. Effie and Haymitch were still sitting at the table, but I paid very little attention to them as I carried her into the spare bedroom. I set her down on the bed and took her shoes off. She groaned and and rolled over on her side. I missed her so much, words could not describe as to how much I missed her. I got her under the covers and hovered over her for a couple of seconds. To my surprise her eyes flickered a bit. She was now half asleep, half awake.

"Stay...with..me... love...you"

Her words earlier made me think. I have been kissing her for five years even though the venom was in me, I have been holding her and nothing every happened. I kicked off my own shoes, climb into bed with her, she laid her head on my chest almost immediately. I loved her so much and the thought of having to take a break from being with each other killed me, but I knew it was for the best. This would be the one and only time I hold her like this until my venom was clear. I had to push aside the need to kiss her or the need to make love to her because I knew those activities were completely out of the question. After a couple minutes of placing kisses on the top of her head and stroking her arms. I made sure she was completely asleep before moving her to the side and removing myself from her bed. I walked quietly out of her room, shutting the door behind me. I could still hear Effie and Haymitch's voices from the kitchen, but paid very little attention to them. I entered my room, threw back the covers and fell into a deep sleep.

To be continued...


	14. Welcome Party

I just have one thing to say before I let you all read the chapter- to Loren Duke you cracked me up so bad when I read your comment. Don't worry its Peeta and Katniss I'm sure they wont go long without being with each other. I had a couple days off I'm was soooooo happy, I sat there all day and wrote this chapter out for you all. I wrote until my fingers fell off lol. I'm gonna try and post another chapter soon :). Please read and review I love them reviews, they are such a motivation.

Chapter 14

Welcome Party

I woke up the next morning with a strange stiffness in the back of my neck, I rolled my head around multiple times trying to rid myself of the small pain that lingered from sleeping on it the wrong way. I found myself in a large comfortable bed, curled up under a ton of blankets. Someone had to of carried me from the balcony to this bed and I did not have to guess who. I knew it was Peeta. I wish he would of slept next to me last night, but he had made it very clear that he was not going to lay a hand on me until he was clear. I kept wondering what was in store for us today. What has Haymitch and Peeta been doing all this time in the capitol? I would ask my questions at breakfast. I tiredly pulled my body off the bed and stretched my hands above my head, letting out a long deep yawn. I patted lazily across the bedroom floor and opened the door that led to the hallway. Everyone else still must of been asleep because I heard nothing but the soft ticking of a clock that hung on the wall in front of me. I entered the bathroom a couple seconds later and turned the faucet on immediately, then I striped down to nothing but my skin and sat on the toilet seat, waiting for the water to become Luke warm. I hated getting into a scolding hot tub and having the hot water almost burn my skin. My favorite type of baths were the Luke warm ones with me leaning my bare back against Peeta's chest, having him kiss my bare skin and whisper into my ear. I could not get over the fact that he had broke up with me last night for my 'own safety' I could care less about my safety. What I cared about was him and him only. I took the time to unbraid my messy hair, I must of tossed and turn in my sleep last night because my hair was a complete and total mess in the braid. Speaking of last night it was odd that I did not have any nightmares. Hass's sleeping pills must of worked wonders which surprised me because Dr. A had prescribed me with them when I first came back to district 12. They did not do a single thing.

I stood there looking in the mirror, trying to pull out the rats nest that was my hair. The tub was almost full, as soon as I was about to dip my body into the comforting tub; the door opened. I didn't bother covering myself up because as soon as my gray eyes met blue ones my heart swelled. Peeta stood in the doorway, his face was beat red. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair was just as bad as mine.

"Sorry" He said turning his back towards me.

I snickered without much humor. "Nothing you haven't already seen."

I pulled a towel off the rack in front of me and wrapped in securely around my body. I did not want him to feel uncomfortable and why should he feel uncomfortable around me when I have no clothes on. We've had sex, we've bathe naked with each other, I have seen him and he's seen me.

"Do you need to go to the rest room?" I ask him.

"Yes, but I cant wait" He says sweetly.

I let the towel drop from my body and quickly soaked myself in the warm relaxing water. I had added a lot of bubbles, so now I was completely hidden. I pulled the shower curtain so it covered the inside of the tub from Peeta's view. He was being stubborn, instead of using the bathroom he exited it, gently shutting the door behind him. As soon as I heard the door click behind him I started crying softly. We really weren't together anymore. He really broke up with me last night. My tears mixed in with the soapy water and all I wanted to do was hide from the cruel fact that Peeta was no longer my boyfriend. I looked down at my engagement ring and my heart nearly fell out of my chest. I was not taking it off, nobody could make me, tears started to stream down my face as I thought of the possibility of him asking for it back. I pushed that thought aside and focused on the nice cool water that engulfed my body. I needed to stop this constant crying I found myself doing. I had to remain strong. I was a survivor, I was a hunter, I was strong, so why was this on little thing causing me to become so out of character.

I showered, wrapped a towel around me, and headed back into the room to change into a pair of pants and a baggy shirt. I should just curl up in my room all day and think about all the things I have done wrong. I quickly decided against that I did not come all this way just too mope and whine. I was determine to help him, I didn't want him to suffer anymore and I didn't want us to be apart like this anymore. The only way he was going to touch me again was if he rid himself of the venom. I had to remain strong for him. He was my soul mate, my everything and I was not going to give into this break-up so easily.

Peeta was sitting at the end of the table with a cup of coffee in his left hand and a capitol newspaper in the other. He did not look at me when I entered the room, but he knew I was there; his body tensed as soon as I entered the room. I rummaged through the fridge, looking for something I could sink my teeth in, but nothing looked good and I didn't trust hotel room food from a fridge. I settled for a cup of coffee and made my way out of the kitchen to sit on the leather couch. After a couple of minutes just staring out in space I heard a gentle knock on the room door, setting my coffee on the stand next to me. I got up and made my way across the room to answer it. I flung the door opened and was greeted with a wide smile that came from Hass. He was carrying a large brown paper bag in one hand and a couple small plastic ones in the other.

"Morning kitten" He greeted.

"Morning" I greeted back and stepped to the side to allow him to enter the large room.

"Did you get a good night sleep" He asked me.

"Actually yeah, the sleeping pills surprisingly worked" I told him.

"Good"

"Uh Whats all this?" I asked pointing to his bags.

"Oh food, I umm went out this morning to buy food and got a little carried away. Would you like some?"

"Sure there is nothing to eat here anyway" I shut the door once he was completely in the room and followed him into the kitchen. I stole a quick glance in Peeta's direction. He was staring at Hass with such a hateful expression, watching his every movement. His eyes met mine and he quickly looked away, frowned and continued to read the newspaper.

"Good morning Peeta" Hass greeted with his usual cheerful smile.

Peeta nodded in his direction, not saying one word to him, which really irritated the crap out of me. I told him last night that Hass and I were just friends and he told me that he was not jealous of him, not one little bit, but I am finding that hard to believe. The looks Peeta would get in his eyes told me if he was happy, sad, angry, frustrated or jealous and right now he was extremely jealous. I could read him so easily sometimes.

"You like Oreos kitten?" Hass asked grabbing a bag of the black cookies from the plastic bag.

"Never had one" I replied honestly.

He starts to laugh "Are you serious?"

I nod.

"Well your just going to have to try one" He pulls open the plastic and takes one of the small black cookies, stuffed with cream, He hands it to me and I take my first bite of the cookie. I'm immediately lost in the chocolaty goodness. It is amazing, more amazing than lamb stew. My eyes involuntary close and I moan into the next bite. I devoured the cookie and three large bites and snatched the bag away from Hass playfully.

"Want one Peeta?" He offers.

"No thank you" Peeta declines softly.

The morning was somewhat awkward between Peeta, Hass and I. We all filled our plates with the food Hass bought and ate in silence. Multiple times I caught Peeta glaring at him and that only made me angry. He knows damn well I love him and only him, so why take the time in glaring hatefully at my friend. Hass didn't seem to mind though; he just gorged himself with his Oreo cookies and store bought pop tarts. Haymitch and Effie entered the room a couple minutes later. Effie had a look of excitement on her face and Haymitch looked pretty annoyed. She skipped across the floor, the clicking sound that her high heels made filled my ears.

"This is so exciting" She says taking the last empty chair at the table. I took a moment to examine her attire. She wore a large blonde wig today with a black bow on the top of her head. Her vest and skirt were a matching blue color and she wore big high heeled boots. I was so fascinated with Effie's attire at times, She always manages to surprise me. Effie placed her hands on my shoulders and squealed in excitement. Haymitch rolled his eyes, Hass looked confused and Peeta stared at me with a concern look on his face.

"What's going on Effie?" I question her.

"Oh dear it is wonderful, The whole city is talking about it" Effie chirped.

"Talking about what?" I asked confused.

"Well its no secret Peeta is here to find a cure for his problems, the people are happy to have him, but now that your here helping him makes things even better..." Effie was about to say something else but Peeta calmly cuts her off.

"Better that she is here? Its not better Effie; its worst that she is here" Peeta says. His words stung me hard and I had to control myself from crying. I had to be strong and brave no matter what he said or did to me. I was Katniss Everdeen; I was the mockingjay. The strong, fearless mockingjay that could survive anything and I had to keep telling myself Peeta said these things to me and about me because he loved me and did not want to hurt me.

"I still don't get it Effie" I said to her.

She smiles. "Lets start from the beginning. President Paylor summoned Haymitch and myself to her mansion this morning. She heard rumors and whispers from the public that the mockingjay had arrived last night on train and that she was staying with her lover in a nearby hotel. She asked us if this was true" Effie said with nothing but excitement.

I sighed deeply and placed a hand against my forehead. "Please tell me you did not tell her or anyone I was here"

"Of course I did silly and she has invited you to attend a welcome back party set to take place this evening at six sharp. The capitol people are so excited to have the star-crossed lovers back" The problem was Peeta and I were hardly star-crossed lovers anymore.I sighed in frustration and without any warning slammed my fists against the table top, causing the silverware to clatter against one another. Both Hass and Peeta both jumped at my anger and Effie just gave me a scolding look. I pushed the chair out from underneath me and rose, slamming my fist against the table again.

"I don't want them to know anything. I didn't want them to know I was here." I shout.

"Darling you can't just waltz into the capitol and expect to be left alone. Your our mockingjay after all"

"I'm nobody's damn mockingjay anymore" I shout and I can no longer hold back the tears, a couple fell out of my gray eyes.

"Honey your always going to be Panem's mockingjay." Effie tells me.

"I just want to help Peeta thats all. No parties, no cameras, no star-crossed lovers, no fake dresses or make-up. NOTHING"

The whole room was silent for a couple seconds before Effie started speaking again. "Please come, it will give the people something to focus on other than the fact that Peacekeepers are misbehaving"

My heart sank to the ground at the mere mentioning of Peacekeepers; they were supposed to be long gone, replaced but what our ancestors used to call police officers. I wasn't going no matter what, nobody was going to convince me to go to the presidents mansion. I had to stay focus on trying to find a cure to that tracker jacker venom. I had to stay focus on helping Peeta with his problems.

"And what do Peacekeepers have to do with anything? We've been here for almost a month and I haven't seen any of them. What's going on?" Peeta asked butting into the conversation.

"Nothing you too need to be concerned about" Haymitch said entering the kitchen with a bottle of booze. I guess all this time in the capitol is causing him to become a drunk again. I didn't want that for him, so as soon as Peeta and I make it back to 12 I'm going to have a talk with Haymitch's girlfriend; maybe she could straighten his ass out.

"Please think about going sweetheart" Haymitch says, "It would be good for you and Peeta to talk to a few residents you know"

"We can't be the star-crossed lovers anymore, even if I did want to go" I whisper quietly, fighting back tears.

"Why not?" Effie pouts

I was silent.

"Why not?" Effie asked again not letting the subject drop. When she got no reply again. She got up from the chair and placed her hand on her hip, gently cocking it to the side. "Katniss Everdeen, Why not?"

That it I had it. I pounded my fists against the table again and shouted at her. "BECAUSE WE ARE NOT TOGETHER ANYMORE!" I cry out and bolt for my bedroom door. Nobody tried to stop me, I tossed the door open and slammed it shut again, throwing my body on the bed and burying my head in the soft pillow. I let all the tears flow, I cried until there was no tears left. My head pounded hard after I was done sobbing. Effie came into my room after I was done crying and apologized to me. She told me she was really sorry that Peeta and I broke up and that if I needed anyone to talk to she was right here.

"Please think about coming to the party, The nation wants to see its hero." Effie mumbles.

"I'm not a hero" I whisper. I thought hard and long about going to the party and after much conflict with myself I decided to give in. I would go, have them dress me up once again, play my part, smile, wave to the crowd and then have a one on one private meeting with the president concerning the peacekeeper issue and the tracker jacker venom, that is if she knew anything about that.

"Fine I'll go, but I want to talk to Paylor"

"Done I'll get your stylists" She chirps.

I raised my eyebrows in confusion. "My stylists are in 12"

"Oh no dear they were so bored without you there, they came home and they are so excited to be working on you" I love how Effie just assumes I would say yes to a welcome party like this. I had no choice I had to talk with Paylor, talk to her about Peeta's hijacking problems and talk to her about the peacekeeper issue. I wanted to know what this was all about. I was going to get to the bottom of it. I hated the fact that the whole entire city knew I was here, hated the fact that in a few hours I will be dolled up and cameras will be shoved into my face.

"Alright but I am not staying for the whole thing, you can doll me up, take a couple pictures but as soon as I talk with Paylor I'm out of there" I tell her.

"Fine then dear, lets get you looking halfway decent. One more thing Dear" She took a deep breath, trying to decide if she should ask me the next couple of questions, "You realize you cant waltz in there alone. A man has to escort you, capitol tradition"

My heart thumped in my chest and I remained silent.

"Maybe I could convince Peeta to..." I cut her off.

"He can't and I can't. He broke up with me and being close to him like that I just...can't do it" I bit my lip hard, not wanting the tears to start flowing.

"Darling its a temporary thing, I guarantee you" Effie leaned forward on the bed and pecked my head softly. She got up from the bed and slapped her hands together, "Lets get you bathed, I'll call your stylists"

I took a bath for the second time today and wrapped a silk robe around my body, sitting on the edge of my bed I waited for Effie to return with my prep team. It didn't take long for my door to open and someone to walk in. I expected it to be my prep team, but it wasn't. My heart dropped as my gray seam eyes met ocean blue. I turned my head to the side tearing my gaze away from him. He entered the room and shut the door behind him, locking it in the process.

"You don't have to go in front of the cameras" He says suddenly.

"I know I don't have to"

"Then why are you" Peeta asks, he knows I cant handle being in front of the cameras without him.

"It's doesn't really matter" I say.

He tightened his fist and clutched his jaw, I could tell he was struggling with this conversation. I loved it when I caused him to become tongue-tied. We were silent for a long seconds, staring into each others eyes, trying to find the right words to say to each other.

"Do you love me" I ask after five agonizing minutes of silence.

"Katniss please I..." I cut him off.

"Do you love me Peeta!" I ask raising my voice.

"You know I do"

"It's killing me inside, us not being together; it feels like I'm dying. Is it for good?"

"Huh?"

"Are we done for good?"

"Katniss, I never want to hurt you again"

I risk it and approached him, laying both my hands softly against his cheeks. "You won't hurt me again"

"You got to understand why I'm doing this" He mumbles.

"I do understand, but you have to understand how I'm feeling too. I love you so much that its actually hurting me; the thought of not being with you I can't handle it. You removing yourself from my life is far worse than anything your hijacking has ever done. It feels like this hole has been ripped into my heart, a hole you can only fill." I move closer to him until our chests are touching. I gaze into his deep blue eyes and all I want to do is melt.

"I love you and you know its not easy for me to say those words, but I truly, deeply love you"

"I don't want to hurt you like this, but I feel so horrible for what I have done." He gently pulls his face out of my soft grip and turns his back towards me. "I mean for god sakes Katniss I killed my own unborn baby!" He suddenly bursts out in anger. "It's something they would of done, I'm just like them I'm just like HIM! killing innocent children, never giving them a shot at life. I hate what I am, I just want to be normal again, I want to be the man I was before the games."

"You are that man Peeta" I approached him again and took his face between my hands again, when his eyes met mine I could see tears were softly flowing in his eyes. "Your a good person, your nothing like Snow; he is the monster that did this to you. Your a damn good man not a monster and I love you so much"

Peeta and I stared into each others eyes for a good while. Neither of us were saying or doing anything. A loud rap on the door caused you to let go of each other. I moved past Peeta, unlocked the door and meet Effie's concerned gaze.

"Am I interrupting?" Effie asks.

"Yes" I said

"Not at all" Peeta says and moves past me and out the door.

"Your prep team is here to work on you" Effie smiles widely.

She flung the door opened and allowed them to enter; almost immediately Octavia placed a light kiss on my forehead while Flavius and Venia forced me into a bear hug. Peeta disappeared from my sight as soon as my prep team entered my hotel bedroom. I immediately felt completely empty by his absence.

"We missed you so much Katniss" Flavius smiled.

"Yeah its good to be home District 12 is a stink hole" Octavia mumbled to herself, but I was still able to hear her and shot her a vicious glare. Venia entered the room carrying several cases of what looked like nail products, Flavius had a case of hair products and Octavia held a long silky blue dress for me to get into. It was going to be a long and stressful afternoon. The things they had to do in order to make me beautiful. I could feel it now the pulls, the pushes, the pokes and the ripping of my leg hair. I don't have much leg hair, but that doesn't mean it wont hurt coming off. I prayed they would skip that part and just do my hair nails and make-up.

It took 4 long and horrible hours to bathe me, place blue shades of make-up on me and get me into that long beautiful dress. I loved the dress it was gorgeous,There were no straps, my back was completely exposed and so was parts of my chest. The high heels they gave me were impossible for me to walk in so the had to take it down a heel size in order for me to walk. They painted my nails and styled my hair in a simple braided bun. When I was finally done I entered the large room and gazed around. Haymitch and Effie were dressed in their very best, Peeta looked absolutely handsome in his dark black tuxedo. When his eyes met mine it looked like he stopped breathing. Effie and Haymitch turned their heads in my direction and smiled (well only Effie smiled).

"You look stunning dear" Effie said, approaching me and kissing me lightly on the forehead.

Peeta approached me slowly and ever so gently grabbed my hand into his, placing a delicate kiss on the top of my hand. This was a start at least he was beginning to touch me again. Maybe I just had to be patient with him; like he has been patient with me. I started into his eyes for a couple minutes wanting so badly to press my lips against his and drive him into a kiss. I wanted to throw Effie and Haymitch out of the hotel room and have my way with Peeta on the floor, the table, the bathroom, the bed, just about anywhere I could get. Effie quickly ushers us out of the building and into a fancy rental car. Peeta and I sat in the back by ourselves and Effie and Haymitch in the front. He is sitting as far away from me as possible, gazing out into the night sky. The sky was dark and every once in awhile a flicker of light would go off in the distance. A storm was coming and there was no stopping it. The awkward silence that filled the air caused butterflies to form in my stomach. Finally after long minutes of agonizing silence Peeta finally decided to tear his eyes away from the sky and spoke. "You don't have to do this" He mutters.

"I know I don't have to, but if she knows a way to help you then..." He cuts me off.

"She doesn't know anything" Peeta said.

"You don't know that" I say with a little irritation in my voice.

"Haymitch and I already went to her and she pointed us in the direction of an abandon building that had records of all the people the capitol tortured, all the mutts they created and so much more, but there was not one thing on how to cure hijacked memories. I'm stuck like this"

"Even if you are stuck with it, you wont go through this alone. I'll be there everyday for you. I'll be there to bring you back"

He stared at me with a look of slight anger. "So you would risk your life for me again!"

"Yes" I says without having to think about it.

"I wont let you, If this doesn't work I'll force you on that train"

"Do you love me at all?" I asked with a horrifying look on my face.

"Katniss! You know I do! How many damn times must I repeat myself" He hisses at me.

"Then stop pushing me away!" I hiss back.

We both remained silent the rest of the way, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of Haymitch and Effie talking and the roaring of the engine as it zoomed down the streets of the capitol. My heart pounded hard the closer I got to the presidents manson. There had to be a simple reason as to why Paylor went through so much trouble in tracking me down. I knew it wasn't just to welcome me back to the capitol. I was determined to find her as soon as I got there. The car came to an abrupt stop and when it did two escorts opened the door and the one offered me his large hand. As soon as Peeta and I were out of the car, camera started to surround us, especially me. They screamed questions at me like: Where you been all this time mockingjay or how's life in district 12. One of them even asked if Peeta and I had any plans in getting pregnant any time soon. I just smiled and waved at the camera, ignoring their questions and comments. I tried pushing my way past the camera man, but he merely stuck the camera in my face more and continued asking me questions I didn't want to answer. I tried again to move past him, but he was so much taller than me and stood in my way. I felt like taking his camera and bashing it off the ground, but before I could do just that Peeta's large hand grabbed mine and he pushed his way through the crowd with me tightly against his side. The camera man protested and began following us, Peeta dragged me as quickly as he could and entered Paylor's mansion. The escorts closed the door and as soon as they did Peeta dropped my hand and I felt abandon as he walked away.

"This way Miss Everdeen" He smiled. He was medium height, very thin, brown hair and his eyes; I have seen his eyes somewhere, they were familiar but I could not remember where I have seen them. "My name is Wadera by the way Miss and Its a pleasure to meet the mockingjay"

"It's nice to meet you too Wadera."

He led me down the large hallways and into a huge ballroom packed with so many people. They were all dressed in their very best and as soon as they saw me they smiled, waved, greeted me, asked to have a drink with me. Wadera led me to the center to the ballroom and there stood none other than Paylor herself. She has not changed in the last couple of years, except of course her hair is more gray than I remember. She gave me a warm smile and grabbed me into a bone-crushing hug.

"Katniss, how are you?" She smiled.

"Good" I lied. I was far from good, How can I be good when I was in a place like this, a place that reminded me of death and despair. How can I be good when all Peeta does is push me away; So much has happened to me there is no way in hell I can say I'm good. This was going to be a long and dreadful night. Paylor tapped her spoon against her fancy glass and immediately the room fell silent and I could feel all eyes were on me.

"Attention Everyone, Please give a warm welcome back to Miss Katniss Everdeen and Mister Peeta Mellark. The heroes of Panem have return to us"

The was a roar of Applause and I scanned the room hoping to catch Peeta's gaze somewhere in the crowd. No sign of him. The applause soon faded and music began to fill the air, the tune was soft and sweet. I turned to Paylor and examined her closely.

"Can I speak with you in private?" I asked her.

"Once your welcome party is through you may" She smiles and walks away from me, her tight fitting green dress gently following behind her. I scanned the room hoping to find anyone that looked familiar; nobody caught my eye. There were so many chairs and tables set up in the room, I had many choices in what chair to sit in. I picked a chair in the corner and sat down on the hard surface. I watched people talk and drink. Many of them came up to me and asked me for a dance and a drink.I kindly declined every invitation and focused on scanning the crowd for Peeta. Finally I spotted him near the punch bowl talking to a women with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in a long gray dress, her hair was down to her shoulders and was very curly. She had her hand on Peeta's shoulder and he had his on her small back. She had him smiling and blushing. I was about to get up from my chair and go dump that whole bowl of bunch on her dress, but then decided against it as a man with chestnut locks took the seat across from me and folded his hands.

"Whats a pretty girl like you doing in the corner?" He asked.

I immediately recognized him as the escort from earlier. Wadera; he was Paylor's assistant or something like that. He was dressed in a black tuxedo, his hair was slick and he had a small patch of make-up to cover a scar from his left cheek.

"I'm not much of a party girl" I say quietly.

"I can see that Miss. Everdeen. Do you really want to be anti-social to people who look up to you" He says.

"I'm not the mockingjay another that was five years ago." I snap.

Wadera merely laughs. "You will always be the mockingjay" His smile fades and his face becomes serious, he stares hard at me and I don't like the look he is giving me. It actually scares the life out of me, But I push my paranoia away and smile at him.

"Would you like to dance?" I asked kindly.

"Sure Mockingjay" He replies and stands up from his chair; he offers me his hand which I gladly take. We walk to the dance floor. My eyes went to the spot by the punch bowl. Peeta was no longer there. The music started playing and it was a deep serious beat at first. I was about to place my hands around his neck but he stopped me and said "This is actually a Formations dance."

"A What?" I questions, but before He could answer the music got louder and a lady started singing in a deep and serious tone.

**_Abraham took Issac's hand and led him to the lonesome hill._**

**_While his daughter hid and watched, she dare not breathe._**

**_She was so still._**

I looked around us as multiple people were dancing with one another and then twirled their partner into the arms of another person. Wadera did the same to me and I twirled into an older gentlemens arms. He smiled, gave me a small nod and continued dancing. The women started singing again.

_**Just as an angel cried for the slaughter, Abraham s daughter raised her voice.**_

_**Then the angel asked her what her name was, she said, I have none"**_

The older man twirled me out of his arms and back into Wadera, his grip was a littler tighter this time, his face was serious as his eyes bored into mine. The music was so loud that I could barely hear myself think. I think Wadera was squeezing me so hard on the arms that it was leaving red marks, But I didn't let that bother me. I continued the dances moves along with everyone else. The women's voice echoed through my head.

_Then he asked, How can this be?_

_My father never gave me one. And when he saw her, raised for the slaughter, Abraham s daughter raised her bow._

_How darest you child defy your father? You better let young Isaac go._

As soon as the women was done singing, Wadera smiled at me and twirled me into another mans arms. He wasn't supposed to, nobody else did it. I stared into ocean blue eyes and finally realized I was in Peetas' arms. I looked back at Wadera- who was look over our shoulders, he gave the blonde haired woman a small nod, she nodded back and suddenly the pair pulled a gun on the both of us and fired.

To be continued...


	15. Peacekeeper Issues and The Plot

I can't believe the owner of FF or whatever is deleting stories that have a detailed love scene in them. How can they sit there and delete everyone's hard work and dedication. They need to get over the fact that characters are going to make love and sometimes a story requires an love scene scene of some sort. Yeah I can understand them deleting stories that are considered to be pornography, but other than that they should leave the rest alone. I mean for god sakes FF( Unleash Your imagination). Okay thats enough complaining for me lol. Ps you guys really need to relax and be patient with me I already told you I will finish this story. I work a lot so it takes time Please read and enough the next chapter in this story.

Chapter 15

Peacekeeper Issues and The plots

(Peeta's POV)

I pushed Katniss to the ground, hoping the bullet Wadera fired at her would miss. She shrieked as I sent her hurling to the ground. The blonde women that I was talking to fired her gun at the exact same time as Wadera. So I had to make a quick decision and my choice was to push Katniss out of the way and allow myself to recieve two bullets in the shoulder. The first bullet fired by Wadera entered my left arm. There was horrible pain that passed through my entire body. The second bullet went through my shoulder and that was when I dropped to the group next to Katniss. People all around us shrieked and ran for their lives.I could feel blood seep through my shirt. Wadera and the blonde headed woman cocked their guns again and pointed them at only me. This time they had every intention in killing me and then I'm pretty sure they were going to kill Katniss next which I was not going to let that happened. Another loud gunshot sound filled the room and I stared up at the blonde haired woman who had a shocked look on her face, blood started coming out of her mouth and I glanced down to see a large bullet hole in her chest. She dropped dead in an instant. Paylor's guards and escorts flew into the room, their guns at the ready, pointing at Wadera's heart.

"Put the gun down nice and slowly" A Guard said calmly.

"No, I won't let you ruin this. We have come so close in killing the mockingjay" Wadera spat.

As soon as Wadera aimed his gun at the guard instead of me, I crawled across the floor to get as far away from his as possible. I jumped as Katniss's small hand came in contact with my injured arm, She pulled me to my feet and helped me get as far away from Wadera as possible. The pain coming from my arm and shoulder was horrible, but it was worth it. I had taken a bullet for her and I would take a thousand more if it meant she would be safe. Katniss and I got halfway across the room before the sound of shattering glass echoed our ears. Tons of people dressed in white flew into every inch of the mansion. People screamed and screamed, fled and feared for their lives, but what they didn't realize was the peacekeepers were after Katniss and I. It was Paylor's assistant, he was telling them what to do and how to act.

I glanced across the room just in enough time to see Wadera escape through the glass window. The escort led Paylor to safety and was in the process of getting people to safety and fighting off the invaders. Katniss and I managed to follow a group of people out of the ballroom and into the long hallways, this place was huge it was almost like a maze; one wrong turn and you were lost forever. There were several gunshot noises coming from behind us and more screams. We hurried down the long spiral stairs, I tried to push the pain I was feeling in my arm and shoulder aside. I had no idea what was going on, but my first priority was to get Katniss to safety. They were after her and me, they wanted us both dead which that really didn't surprise me. We rounded the corner and as we did a gun went off and the man in front of me dropped to the ground. His blood splatter into my face and Katniss screamed bloody murder. It wasn't long before we were all surrounded by men in white.

"Alright nobody make a sound" The red head said pointing a gun at a young woman's face.

"I'm taking the mockingjay and for anyone tries to stop me I" will put a bullet in their skull" He threatened.

"Step aside ladies and gentlemen" Another ordered.

"Your not hurting the mockingjay" A women in along slivery dress stood up to them.

"Yeah your going to have to get through me" Another said.

"And me"

"Me too"

I grabbed hold of Katniss and wrapped my arms around her tightly, ignoring the pain that lingered in my arm ands shoulder. I half expected the people to just move aside and allow the peacekeepers to have her, but they didn't. They stood their ground and did not move an inch. They grew angry, loaded their guns and fired down at least four people. I couldn't believe this was happening, I couldn't believe that these people were making their move on this particular day. What was going on? Why was it I have been here for about a month and nobody attempted anything on me, but Katniss has been here not only two days and they try to kill her in the middle of her welcome party. The people that were with us never moved an inch, an older gentlemen turned to Katniss and I with a small smile on his lips. He mouthed the words run and that is exactly what Katniss and I did. We ran like our lives depended on it and they did depend on it. I felt bad for leaving those innocent people behind, but I had to do what I had to do in order to keep Katniss safe. We reached the front of the mansion and bolted out into the rainy night. Rain soaked our entire clothes, it smeared Katniss's make-up and soaked her fancy dress, but none of that mattered. It did not matter that our clothes were getting ruined. All we did was run, we had to run and hide in order for us to survive. Finally after what felt like hours of running I couldn't take it anymore and my body gave e out. My butt hit the cold wet ground and I let out deep breaths.

"We need to get you to a hospital" She said frantically.

"I'm fine" I assure her.

"No your not, you were shot" She hisses.

"Just help me back to the room"

"How bad is it Peeta?" She asks me, completely ignoring my request.

"I don't need a doctor" I mutter.

She opens her mouth the protest but I hold up a finger and silence her with my Shh sound. "Don't argue with me"

"Peeta please your hurt"

"Just help me up please" She rolled her eyes at me as if I was being unbelievable. Then she gently helped me to my feet and the two of us headed into the direction of the hotel room. It felt like we had been walking for hours, but we finally managed to get back to the hotel room. The bleeding in my arms continued and Katniss kept trying to convince me to go to the hospital, but I still refuse despite the pain I knew it wasn't that bad. I've been through worse. I have been cut, injected, stung and so much more; a graze in the arm and one through the shoulder is nothing. Katniss forced me to sit down on the large comfortable couch in the living room. She frantically took off her high heels and darted for the bathroom, probably to fetch supplies. I too leaned forward, wincing in pain, I removed my shiny black dress shoes and jacket. Blood was seeping through my white shirt. Maybe it was worse than I thought. Katniss returned with a large amount of gauze, bandages and peroxide.

"Take off your shirt" She ordered and I did not fight her. I shredded the white undershirt that was soaked in blood and let it fall to the ground. She placed a white cloth against my shoulder and applied pressure. I grunted in pain. She cleaned my wounds, wrapped them in cotton bandages and proceeded in picking up the phone and calling for a doctor. I told her I didn't want a doctor, but yet she refuses to listen. I rise from the couch, take the phone out of her hand and place it back on it's base gently.

"Peeta you need a damn doctor" She said loosing her patience with me and I was loosing my patience with her.

"No what I need is to find out why the hell someone tried to kill you. What I need to do is find out why Paylor's damn assisstant pointed a freaking gun at you! AND WHAT I NEED IS FOR YOU TO GET BACK ON THAT DAMN TRAIN!" I don't know why I was raising my voice at her. It was not safe for her here and I did not want her here where someone could just kill her or attempt to kill her like that. I was going to do everything in my power to make Katniss go back to district 12. She will be safe there and she has people there to look after her. Her mother and Gale, they would keep her safe, away from harm.

"Are we back to this again! Peeta, you were just shot in the arm and all you can think about it getting rid of me" She looks up at me with tears in her eyes.

"It could have been you Katniss, you could of been the one to get shot and I'm pretty sure Wadera wouldn't of hit you in the arms. Hell I"m lucky those two have bad aim. I need to find out why they tried to kill you" I say a little calmer this time.

"It's not just me they tried to kill. It's you too. They got us together on the dance floor so they could kill us both."

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is you getting on that train, first thing tomorrow" I say quietly And my words make her snap.

"Is that all you care about?"

"Huh?"

"That all you care about is getting rid of me. What's the matter with you!" She cries.

"I KILLED OUR BABY!" I scream. The guilt I was feeling because of that was overwhelming, I don't think I will ever get over the fact that I am a murderer. I murdered people during the war and games and I murdered my own flesh and blood. Katniss approaches me and places her hands on either side of my face. I just want to push her away, but I can't find the strength too, I am incredibly tired and its probably because I lost so much blood. I should probably go to the doctors.

"Snow killed our baby" She says calmly. I pulled my face out of her hands and anger started boiling up inside me. I was sick and tired of her defending me when I was the bad guy.

"STOP Defending me! "I shout. I move across the room and send a very expensive lamp into the wall. It shattered and glass littered the floor. Katniss backed away from me and sat on the floor with her knees to her chest, she cried her eyes out as I sent everything I could get my hands on across the room. I ignored the pains that were shooting through my left arm and just kept chucking everything

"Peeta P-please stop it" She begged with tears in her eyes.

"No I will not stop it. I will not stop until your safe from everything, Safe from this place, these people, this world, safe from me!" I flipped the glass coffee table sending the remote, flower vase and glass center piece to the ground

"P-Pee-ta" She was crying so hard now that words would not escape her mouth no matter how hard she tried. "I-I L-lo-ove Y-you" She sobbed.

I dropped to my knees so I was at her level, wrapping my good arm around her I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I love you too and I just want things to be right. I just want you out of harms way. They'll try it again you know. Those peacekeepers, they'll try to kill you again."

"I don't care I just want to be with you. I love you" She cries. We were silent for a couple of seconds, I rest my forehead against her and stared into her eyes.

"Come on lets get you cleaned up" I return to my normal height and help her to her feet. I wiped away her tears and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Peeta?" She says my name quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Will you please go see the doctor" she pleas.

"I'm fine Really" I tell her and she looks at me unconvinced.

"Peeta, do you think Haymitch and Effie is alright?" I didn't know how to answer because the last time I saw them they were chatting and drinking away at the refreshment table. I'm sure Haymitch and Effie got out alright, it was only a matter of time before they come bursting through that door with a long explanation as to why Katniss got attacked at her welcome back party. I watched Katniss fill the tub with Luke warm water; she struggled to get the zipper of her dress undone so I stood behind her and unzipped it for her. I turned my back to her as soon as she let the dress drop to a pool at her feet.

"Peeta You've seen me naked before stop being embarrassed" She says with a hint of laughter in her voice.

I know I've seen her naked before We've made love with each other and bathed with each other like this. I had to keep telling myself we were not together anymore, that is the only way I can stop myself from taking her into my arms and kissing the life out of her, kissing her until her lips are swollen. I wanted to hold her at night again, steal shy kisses and violate her. Kat's small hand touched my good shoulder and she gently turned me around so I was facing her. I had no choice but to look at her. I only looked into her eyes, no matter how much I wanted to look at her body.

"Peeta, please bathe with me" She whispers and pecks me on the cheek, holding my face close to hers.

"I have to change and wait for Haymitch to get back" I denied her and she looked upset

"Please" She said and kissed my cheek again. She went from my cheek to my jawbone, to my neck and eventually to the corner of my lips.

"Katniss stop please"

"I can't I almost lost you tonight. I can't hold back any longer and I know you cant either. Now please do us all a favor and please kiss me. Kiss me so I can forget what's happened tonight and what's happened to us in the past couple of months. Please put all your guilt and anger into the kiss. Kiss me to forget Peeta , Kiss me because you love me and you want me and if you can't do that then I really will have to let you go and I don't know how I'll be able to do that. I love you so much that I can't breath, can't think about anything when your around. I don't blame you for anything Peeta, not hurting me, not killing our baby, nothing. I'm not going to force myself on you anymore. I want you to do what you think is right" My head is spinning, I can't think straight, can't breath right. I don't know what to do. She is giving me a choice to walk out of this bathroom and out of her life or to kiss her right here and now. If I kiss her I'll be putting her in danger, I'll be giving her permission to stay here and help me find a cure. I love her so much and I want to keep her safe even if it means walking out of her life forever I'll do it. I had to do it I had to finalize the status of our relationship, I had to figure out what we were.

"I can't put you in danger" I mumble.

She nods her head multiple times and tears make their way to her face.

"I understand...I-I...can...let you go if its ...If I have to" She cries.

"I won't, I can't let you go. I'm too much in love with you to let you get away from me" I lean forward and peck her on the forehead. "I just want you to be safe, I don't want to hurt you on purpose. Now please shower, dress and meet me in the living room." I kissed her one final time on the head and exited the bathroom. I made my way down the long narrow hall towards the bedroom and rid myself of the dress pants. I replaced the dress pants with sweats and placed a shirt over my injured body. I exited our room and sat on the large couch in the living room, after a couple minutes of sitting the front door to the room flew open and a very frantic looking Haymitch entered the room along with Effie, four of Paylor's guards and Paylor herself. Something very wrong must be occurring if Paylor herself was going to make an appearance.

"Thank god your alright" Effie squeals and grabs me into a fierce hug. I gasped as her hands hit my wounds.

"Your hit boy?" Haymitch asks.

"It's not bad" I assure them.

"We'll have to get it looked at" Effie says.

"Where's Miss. Everdeen?" Paylor asks in a formal tone of voice.

"Taking a shower" I spat at her.

"What the hell happened out there?" I hiss.

"Please remain calm" Paylor says and her words cause me to snap.

"Remain Calm! Are you serious Someone tried to kill her and your saying remain calm. I will not remain calm until you tell me what the Hell is going on" By that time Katniss entered the room wearing a small flimsy nightgown, as soon as she saw Haymitch, she let out a sob, ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a bone crushing hug. Haymitch returned the hug and pecked Katniss on her head. They broke the hug and Katniss's eyes locked with Paylor, there was sorrow in Paylor's eyes and anger in Katniss's gray seam eyes.

"Are you alright Mockingjay" Paylor asks her.

"What happened?" Katniss asks.

"You are aware of the peacekeeper issue right?" She nods. "We the capitol government must put a stop to people that have became or are becoming peacekeepers. The practice is still around; these people are taught to follow orders from someone and are taught to torture and abuse people. We were trying for the longest time, since the war ended... to find out who was leading these people into the capitol, Who was trying to overthrow the capitol and bring us down. There are..." Katniss cuts her off.

"Well its obviously Wadera, your escort that is leading them" She spits out.

"I did suspect him for awhile, but he made no move in trying to kill me or overthrow us. It was odd though; he kept telling us that the peacekeepers were not a threat, that they weren't a big deal and for awhile I believed him. Their numbers were so very little that it was impossible for them to be a threat. A couple here and there trying to overthrow us, but never succeeded. It wasn't until Peeta arrived did he really start acting up. He kept requesting a meeting with Peeta, kept offering his services to protect Peeta. I immediately didn't trust him. So Myself and a couple others decided on a plan and that was bring both star-crossed lovers to the capitol. With both of you here Wadera would try to do something. I sent someone over to district 12 to retrieve you" Paylor moved to the side and allowed one of her escorts to reveal himself.

"Hass?" She frowned. "

Hi kitten" He greeted.

She was becoming angrier and angrier as Paylor continued on.

"We sent Hass Fredrickson over to District 12 shortly after Peeta arrived. He was given orders to watch you and report things you do. He told us about your sadness on loosing your baby and how much you wanted to see him. He was given orders to approach you and befriend you and then later convince you to come to the capitol to be with Peeta. We were lucky that those Were your intentions."

"So we were just bait then! Just people to lure out Wadera" I hiss.

Paylor remained silent lost for words,

"No"

"Bull!" Katniss yelled, "You people are all the same, sick, twisted users. I hate every single one of you. Peeta and I are not your puppets. All we want is to find a cure to his venom, WE don't want to be pawns anymore."

"I assure you we will do everything in our power to find a cure for the altered memories, But you must please help us catch this criminal"

"So you call me here to do your fights"

"Mockingjay we had no..."

"MY NAME IS KATNISS" She interrupts.

"Understood" Paylor says.

Katniss gets up from her sitting position and walk over to Hass so she is face to face with him. Hass gives her a look of apology and holds his head low. All I want to do to him is punch him in the damn mouth for convincing and leading her back to the capitol. I knew I didn't like him for a reason and that reason being Paylor's assistant. I knew there was something off about him the moment I laid eyes on him.

"Can I speak with you in private?" She asks Hass.

He nods and the two of them vanish out of the living room and onto the balcony. I sat comfortably on the couch and placed my hand against my head.

(Katniss's POV)

I led Hass outside and out of earshot. I was trying to decide weather or not I should bite his head off. I knew a stranger like him would not hep me on his own. He had no choice but to approached me, befriend me and do everything he could to take me back to the capitol. Obviously he did not have to try very hard because I was more than willing to go back for Peeta. I placed my hands against the steel railing and glanced into the rainy night. Thunder clapped and lightening struck. I turned to Hass and gave him the direst look I could come up with.

"Everything you told me, about your father, about your mother...Were they a lie?"

"Yes everything, My last name, my parents, My district. Everything."

"But even Paylor says your last name is Fredrickson, did you lie to her?"

"Yes" He admits.

"Everything she said was it true? Did you really sit there and watch me for a couple weeks?"

"Yes"

"Did you pay York to try and rape me so you could be the hero and save me, So I would trust you?" He looks at me with anger in his eyes

"No I would never do that. I wanted to help you Katniss, to ease your pain over Peeta, but at the same time I had to escort you to the capitol without revealing to you who I truly was."

"What is your last name?" He remains silent and looks at the ground.

"I can't tell you because then you really will be angry with me for lying."

"Trust me I'm beyond angry at you nothing you can tell me can set me off anymore"

"My last name is Odair"

My mouth dropped to the ground, I was in total shock and in denial. I knew there had to be a reason why he somewhat looked like Finnick and acted like him. I turned around to face him, taking my hands off the steel railing.

"Finnick's brother?"

"He was my half brother. We didn't have the same mother. My mother was from district 12 and his was from 4. To tell you the truth I don't know that much about him and while we were in district 4 it was the first time I discovered I had a nephew, that my half-brother left behind a son and a beautiful wife. I plan on helping them after my service to the president is up"

"I want to be alone now" I say.

"I understand" Hass says. "Do you hate me for not telling you about this, for leading you to the capitol?"

I take a deep breath. "No I don't because you helped me get back to the man I"m in love with, but I wish you would of told me you were Finnick's half brother"

"I'm sorry" He apologizes.

I smirk "Don't be I guess I should of known. You two have the good looks."

"That's from our father" I take him into my arms and give him a huge hug. I don't think it is possible for me to be mad at him, although I probably should be; after all he did lie to me about major things, but on the other hand he saved my life, escorted me back to Peeta and became a good friend. Hass let go of me and kissed me on the cheek before going back inside, I followed him moments later and found Paylor sitting on the couch with her legs crossed and a cup of coffee in one of her hands. I glanced around hoping to spot Peeta, I needed his strong arms around me now more than ever. I was happy that he told me he couldn't let me go while we were in the bathroom.

"Where's Peeta?" I asked to anyone who would answer me.

"He went to get his bullet wounds checked out. That boy must really love you if he was willing to take 2 bullets to the arms." Effie replied I was relieved that he took my advice and went to see a doctor. Those wounds looked like it really hurt him and I didn't want him in pain.

"What are you still doing here?" I hissed at Paylor.

"I need a answer from you"

"No I will not get involved in your assassination attempt"

"We need our hero" Paylor mumbles.

"Help Peeta and then I"ll help you"

The look on her face was priceless and I was pleased with myself for making her look like that. She had no idea how to cure someone with altered memories, but if she wanted my help she better damn well figure it out. I wasn't so sure if I wanted to go up against someone like Wadera. He scared me and I couldn't get that tight grip he had on my arms out of my head as we danced to that song.

"Done, I'll help as much as I can" She says

"Fine I hunt down Wadera and kill him and all the peacekeepers that stand in my way. I won't let Panem fall under that kind of ruler again." We both stared at each other, nodded in agreement and then she was off. She said her goodbyes and all that was left in the room was Effie, Haymitch and Myself. I wanted to wait up for Peeta to make sure everything was alright, but my heavy eyes would not allow it. I stalked off to the bedroom without a word to Effie or Haymitch, flinging myself on the soft mattress I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep. I slept for about an hour or so before I felt the bed shift and a person climb into the space next to me. I groaned, rolled over and cracked my eyes open coming face to face with Peeta. My heart pounded in my chest this was the first time in a couple months since he climbed into bed with me.

"Are you alright" He asks laying down next to me.

"I'd be better if you held me" I mumble.

He willingly opens his arms and allows me to rest my head against his chest. "Are you in pain because of your bullet wounds?"

"A little bit, but they weren't too bad."

"I told Paylor I was going to help her kill Wadera" I mumble.

"Katniss why would you do that?" He sounded a tab bit annoyed, but I could care less.

"She promised to help you find a cure" Peeta sighed in irritation and placed a small kiss on my head. We were silent for a couple of seconds, All I was doing was listening to the sound of his heart. Every beat in that heart was for me and me only.

"Marry me" I say breaking the silence.

"Katniss I..."

"I don't care anymore. I don't care that you feel the need to break-up with me because its in my best interest. I love you and I know you love me. So marry me please, I don't need a big fancy wedding. I don't need my prep team dolling me up in a big white dress. I don't need cameras taking pictures of us in 12. I want to go to the capitol's justice building and do it. Privately. Marry Me Peeta Mellark"

"I wont marry you here. I won't marry you in a place that remains us of death. I don't want to marry you in secret I want everyone to know. I want all of Panem to know how much I love you when I slid this ring on your finger."He grabs my hand and examines my engagement ring he gave me awhile ago. He kisses my hand and continues to speak " You deserve a big wedding; one with all your friends there, you deserve everything and I'm going to give it to you. I"m going to marry you in the sunlight with thousands of flowers surrounding us. We will stand under a large white arch in front of the ocean, with all your friends and family sitting in chairs watching. Your father and Sister will see how beautiful you look and they will watch over you. I promise Katniss after all this is done I will marry you. I'm in love with you. I'm done being stupid" I grab the back of his head and pull him into a deep and passionate kiss. That had to be one of the sweetest things Peeta has ever said to me. I had him back and the whole that was placed in my heart was finally filled.

We kissed for 30 minutes before I decided to slip my hands under his shirt and bring it up over his head. Peeta was about to protest, but I silenced him with my lips. We made love that night slowly and passionately and I was certain that Effie and Haymitch would be able to hear my loud mouth, but I didn't care I had my man back and I was not letting him go. I was going to find a cure, we were going to go home, get married, start a life together and say goodbye to this painful life once and for all.

To be continued...


	16. Force into Hiding

I'm really sorry this took so long, I was actually on Vacation and I got to say Hawaii is beautiful and I am jealous of all the people who live down there :). I wanna go back. Please don't be angry with the late updates I already said I'd update when I can. So here it is chapter 16 please enjoy.

Chapter 16

Force into hiding

(Katniss's POV)

Total bliss, that was what I was feeling the very next day when I woke up to the sunlight glittering in my face. I was wrapped in nothing but a thin sheet. I loved everything about last night, except the part where some strangers tried to have Peeta and I killed. Other than that I couldn't get his movements out of my mind, his kisses, his every touch. He has never made love to me that passionately before. I only hoped I didn't pull out his stitches from grabbing his shoulders to hard. I was still finding it hard to believe he had taken a bullet for me. It doesn't surprise me though; he loves me and would do anything for me. I stretched my arms above my head and let out a deep yawn, A small smile appeared on my face as I turned around hoping my hands would touch Peeta's soft bare skin, but instead of touching him, my hands touched a beautiful white colored rose and a note. Leave it to Peeta to make my wake-up call romantic. I pulled my body out of bed, tightening my hold on the covers so that I was completely hidden from view. I didn't want Haymitch or Effie to walk in here and see me naked as a jay bird. Peeta's note said he went to get his stitches looked at, that he'd be back shortly. That proves it, I ripped his stitches from grabbing him too hard. I couldn't help it though, last night was pure amazing. The way he touched me, the way he kissed me; I just couldn't get it out of my head. He was so passionate last night, he has never been like that before.

I let the sheet drop to the ground and made my way over to the door. I pulled the door open and peered down the hallway, hoping I could bolt for the bathroom without anyone seeing my bare white behind. I took a chance and left my room. I hurried down the hallway wearing nothing but my skin, I entered the large bathroom and flickered on the lights. The bathroom was incredibly large which didn't surprise me, not one bit. I filled the tub and then took the time to examine myself in the large mirror. I had marks all over my neck and shoulders from his lips and I'm pretty sure he had nail marks down his back. I smiled as images of last night filled my head.

The water felt good against my body as I dipped myself into the scolding hot liquid. I scrub my hair with lavender shampoo, washed every part of my body and leaned my head back against the tub. I was in no hurry at all so I just leaned back and thought about Peeta's every touch last night. I had him back and there was no way I was going to let him go again. I stayed in the bathroom for a good half an hour before pulling myself out of the tub and wrapping myself in a fluffy white towel. I exited the bathroom, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and tank-top and met up with Effie and Haymitch for breakfast. I was shocked to See Hass sitting at the kitchen table with a worried look on his face. As soon as he saw me, he practically hopped up from the chair and zoomed across the floor, grabbing me into a bone-crushing hug.

"Are you alright kitten. I heard about the shooting last night. And Peeta, is he hurt?" Hass asks in concern.

I love how caring and kind Hass is, I in no way could ever be angry with him for lying to me about his parents, his district and his whole identity. He was Finnicks brother for goodness sakes, Well half-brother, but still related and I was going to treat him exactly how I treated Finnick.

"We're all alright" I assured him. "Peeta got stitches in his shoulders, the bullets didn't go in very deep."

"I still like to know why that double crossing traitor had to ruin such a perfect evening" Effie frowned.

"We will find out" Hass said formally.

"well you better find out soon, I don't feel safe walking the streets of the capitol. I could get killed any moment and no even see it coming" Effie said straightening her blue puff wig. I rolled my eyes at her comment. I hated how she made everything about her most of the time.

"Their not after you. Their after the boy and Sweetheart" Haymitch stole the words right out of my mouth, that shut Effie up immediately.

"Where do I even find Wadera. I mean I know nothing about the guy" I asks frustrated at the fact that I told Paylor if she helped Peeta find a cure to his problem, then I would turn around and help her kill this guy that threatened to disturbed the peace that Panem fought so hard to gain. This guy I was supposed to kill he could be half-way across Panem by now. I rubbed my temples in frustration.

"Do you guys got any information on him?" I question Hass.

"Paylor has his employee profile." Hass replied. "His Address is vacant, his number fake and I'm pretty sure he lied about his name, age and just everything."

"Hes long gone if you ask me" Haymitch commented.

"We'll find him" Hass assures us, "And then Katniss, you can kill him for Paylor"

For some reason his words anger me."What am I to her? Just a assassin, is that all I'm good for is killing people?"

"I don't know what goes on through her head."

"I just don't understand why she wants me to do it" I mumble.

"Your our mockingjay, you saved us once you can do it again if this guy is a huge threat"

I rolled my eyes again and remained silent. I listen to Effie and Haymitch chat about the weather, I watched Hass take a large gulp of coffee before biding me goodbye and taking off to god knows where. I excused myself from the table and plopped down on the comfortable couch, flipping on the large flat screen TV. I flipped through channels until I found the news station. Of course they were talking about me. I was all over the news, now all of Panem knew that someone tried to kill Peeta and I. The front door opened and Peeta poked his head inside before fully coming in. My eyes met his and we both shared a smile. He shut the door behind him and walked cautiously over to where I was sitting, leaning down he captured my lips in a greeting kiss.

"Good morning love" He whispers and kisses me again.

"Are you alright?" I ask him.

He smiles "Yeah more than alright"

"I didn't tear your stitches last night did I?" I whisper lowly so Haymitch couldn't hear, but Haymitch had ears like a hawk and a large cocky smile spread across his face.

"I'm surprised she didn't, poor boy had bright red marks all down his back this morning" Haymitch commented.

Both our faces turned a bright red. Effie slapped Haymitch upside the head and turned to us. She smiled and calmly folded her hands on the table in front of her before speaking in a very formal and serious tone of voice. "Kids next time you guys are going to screw around, make sure to be a little quieter, its the decent thing to do"

Haymitch snorted, "Sweetheart has a big mouth their is no such thing as quiet for her."

My face was all different shades of red. Every red imaginable. I push Haymitch's comments out of my mind and focus on the man standing in front on me. I rose from the couch and Peeta took my hand, leading me into the kitchen for a bite to eat. I sat down next to Haymitch and shot him a nasty look for his comments. He chuckled, raised his bottle and took a sip.

"What would Avara say to your drinking?" I question.

"The hell with it, I got to keep the damn memories of this place out of my mind" He replies.

I roll my eyes again. Peeta set a plate of eggs, bacon and sausage in front of me. I just now realized how incredibly hungry I was. I devoured my plate within minutes and went to retrieve more breakfast. We all ate and talked about last nights events. I just wanted to get that mans face out of my mind. I can't believe I actually let him touch me and dance with me like that. I needed to get his touch off my skin. I only danced with him to get Peeta jealous, which that was a huge mistake.

"I cant wait till you shove an arrow in his head, Sweetheart" Haymitch comments.

"We got to find the guy first" Peeta says.

"Has Paylor said anything about him?" I ask quietly.

"We have a meeting with her today" Haymitch said.

"We?" I question.

"You, Peeta and I" Haymitch replies.

A small frown forms at the corner of my lips, I take another small bite of food and that was the end of my appetite. I hated the fact that I had to be bait. I hated the fact that I had to be some ones puppet again, they were just using me to ensure the safety of Panem and I didn't blame them. I wasn't about to let this guy ruin everything we worked so hard to accomplish. I was going to find out everything I could about him. Then I was going to put an arrow in his head for threatening the peace we all had. I think I knew why he tried to have Peeta and I killed and that was to weaken the people. I suppose that was the plan. Peeta and I were the people's hope, their inspiration, their everything and without us the people had no hope. I pushed my plate away and laid my head against the table top. This was all too much for me to handle. I hated the fact that I was once again an assassin, I hated the fact that Paylor sent someone to district 12 to watch me, befriend me and then lead me to the capitol to become bait.

"Are you alright Sweetheart?" Haymitch asked, taking a sip of vodka.

"When is the meeting?" I ask quietly.

"You guys don't have to be there until this evening, Haymitch and I have to go soon" Effie answered for him.

"Why do you have to go before us?" I question.

Effie shrugs, "Paylor got things for us to do. She didn't say what though" Effie replied.

I didn't say nothing else, I calmly rose from my sitting position and made my way across the kitchen to place my plate in the sink. I left the kitchen without another word, ignoring the three pairs of eyes that were boring into the back of my head. I entered the bedroom and threw my body down on the soft surface. I shoved my face into the pillow and screamed loud, my screams were muffled by the pillow so nobody could hear them. I don't know why I was so angry, but screaming into the pillow seemed to make me feel better. I eventually fell asleep for a couple of minute. The shifting of the bed caused me to wake up from my deep slumber. I groaned in protest as a pair of lips found my neck; they went from my jawbone to the corner of my lips and eventually my lips.

"Hmm...Stop" I mumbled sleepily.

"Time to wake up" He says pecking my lips.

"Hmm" I mumbled and turn away from him. I didn't want to wake up and face the outside world. I wanted to stay curled up under this blanket and hide from it all. Hide from Paylor, Hide from the man I was supposed to kill.I would be happy if I could just stay in this bed with Peeta for the rest of my life. My eyes fluttered open and I stared up at Peeta, shooting him one of my sleepy smiles he loves so much. I reached up to brush a strand of blonde hair out of his face.

"Effie and Haymitch left, Paylor will be expecting us in a few hours"

"What are we going to do Peeta" I mumbled. I sat up in bed so my back was against the headboard, I must of had a grim look on my face because Peeta leaned over and kissed me in order for my look to vanish. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sank to the soft bed below. Peeta hovered over me gently and moved my black hair out of my face.

"We"ll be alright" He says and kisses me again.

"We have been ripped from our peaceful lives to become killers again" I whisper.

"Don't worry Paylor will set things straight" Peeta tells me.

"I hope your right because I can't stand this" I mutter. "I can't stand the fact that I have to take somebody's life again. Even if they are a danger. Why did she have to pick me. Why did anyone have to chose me" Tears are threatening to spill from my face.

"It was meant to be, you were meant for this, you were meant to save these people and now you were meant to protect them. Your their mockingjay you mean everything to them and you mean everything to me. You saved my life Kat and millions of others from the reaping, from torture. We are treated like human beings because of you and because of the people who now runs the government. you did that. Your an amazing wonderful human being and I love you. I would relive the games 100 more times, I would relive the torture 100 times and I would relive getting my leg chopped off 100 times"

I look up at him like he was crazy. "Why?"

"Because it all brought me to you, I spent my entire life trying to puck up the courage to talk to you, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't talk to you at school I tried so many times and every time I would come close in talking to you, I'd see your smile, the look of love you had when you talked to your sister, I would get tongue-tied and back off. The games they brought me to you; I was going to take every single one of them down with me just so you could survive. I would let you kill me if it meant you could live.

I look into his eyes and kiss him. We kissed for a couple of minutes before I placed my hands under his shirt. "Peeta?" I whisper, running my hands down is bare back under his shirt. I'm scared to ask him my request and it takes everything inside me to get my next words out. "I would walk through fire Thats how much I love you and I..."

I would not allow him to talk any longer I grabbed the back of his head and forced him to kiss me with as much passion and love as he could. I forced him to lay on top of me, his weight was so comforting. I felt warm and safe when he was on top of me; He was protecting me, shielding me with his body. Our lips fought for dominance and eventually I slid my hands under his shirt and pulled it up over his head. Peeta stopped kissing me and looked down at me with nothing but love in his ocean blue eyes. I wanted to give him everything and anything I could give him.

"I want to try again" I mumbled between our lips. I finally got the courage to tell him.

"What?" He asks confused.

"I want you."

"Katniss you know I Ca..." I placed my finger against his lips stopping him in mid-sentence.

"I want to make a baby with you Peeta. I want them to have your eyes, your hair, your smile, your beautiful personality. I want to give you a child"

"I can't not after everything I have done. I can't do it again. I can't live with myself if I killed another innocent baby"

"You wont I trust you"

I connected our lips again and slid my hands went to his pants buckle and I unhooked it. Everything seemed to fall into place after that. My soft moans filled the air as my nails tore into his flesh, But Peeta was struggling to keep focus. I was becoming concerned, his movements were so slow and his eyes were glued shut for some reason, his hands were usually glued to my arms, holding me close when we made love, but they were gripping the sheets hard. Peeta moved a couple more times before stopping completely and rolling off of me.

"What's the matter?" I asked hurt.

"I can't do this" He replies.

"Can't do what? Make love to me?"

"I can't get you pregnant." He mumbled.

"I thought you wanted kids?" I question.

"More than anything, but I can't do it now. I love you so much and the thought of you carrying my baby, giving birth to her I love it. I love the thought"

I laughed and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"You want a girl?"

"Yes I do" Peeta admits.

"Why? Usually men want boys"

"I want her to look and act like her mother. I want her to be strong and fearless and amazing."

"I will Peeta. I will get pregnant for you again."

"Not now" He mumbles and lays his head back against the soft pillow. I lay my head against his bare chest and fell into a deep sleep. When we woke up it was almost time to go to the presidents mansion and have that horrible meeting with her that I had been dreading for hours. Haymitch and Effie walked into the hotel room to fetch us. Effie was not happy at the sight she saw when she entered our bedroom. I think she will be scarred for life for having seen My naked rear end poking through the bed sheets. When we dressed and appeared in the living room, she started ranting on and on about how we shouldn't try and get pregnant again. How it is dangerous times and blah blah blah. I never really pay attention to what Effie Has to say, her words annoyed me greatly. Effie and Haymitch led us out of the hotel building and into the cool damp streets of the capitol. A large black car was waiting for us, we entered the back seat and immediately it took off down the road. I leaned my head against Peeta's shoulder and started out the glass window. The sky was becoming dark, A storm was upon us I could feel it, I was more than scared of storms I was terrified of them. The thunder sounded like cannons and I swear every time lightening flashed through our window I could see a dead tribute standing there with a smile on their face. I would get so scared that my whole body would start shaking. Peeta would always have to hold me, but sometimes that wasn't enough and he would force sleeping pills down my throat. The car zoomed down the street for what seemed like ages, Neither Peeta or I talked to one another the whole way there. I guess he was still recovering from our awkward attempt at getting pregnant. I was shocked that he put a stop to it. It was Peeta's one wish to be a father and I was willing to give him that, but yet he pushed me away, rejected me from giving him the one thing he desired most. A baby.

The car came to a stop at the presidents mansion and my stomach did these flips. It was only yesterday we were here, dancing to our welcome party, having the time of our lives and then someone tried to end both of our lives. I only hoped Paylor found something out about that guys, what was going on and I hope she found something that will lead us to a cure for Peeta's hijacking. The cure seemed to be last on the presidents list, which kind of upset me because our first priority was getting him better, but I know the country comes first and anyone who threatened it will pay. Peeta helped me out of the car and threaded our fingers. Two very large men escorted us inside the large building. The glass was still scattered across the floor from where they broke in, bloodstains still littered every inch of the hall, but was in the process on being scrubbed out. Innocent people had died last night because of me, because some man wanted me dead for bringing peace to Panem. I tightened my grip on Peeta's hand as we walked through the halls, up a pair of large spiral stairs and into the President's private study. The study was large, there was a large desk in the center followed by some bookcases, a sofa couch and chair and a large fireplace.

"Take a seat" The escort ordered.

Neither of us objected and we both took a seat on the black leather sofa couch, our hands were still wrapped around each other. The escorts studied us for a moment and left the study without another word said.

"Are you alright?" Peeta whispered in my ear.

"Not really" I replied.

"We'll be alright" Peeta says.

Peeta and I were silent for a couple second, I could feel the intensity in the room between us and I didn't like it. I was about to open my mouth to scold him for being so quiet, but the study door opened and a very stressed out looking Paylor entered the room. She had dark bags under her eyes and her hair was horrible. She walked across the floor and took a seat in her huge chair at her desk. She rubbed her temples in frustration and stared at the two of us.

"You two always seemed to find trouble." She says.

"All we wanted to do was find a cure for Peeta's hijacking, thats why we came to the capitol to begin with. We weren't looking for anything" I sneered.

"Who is this guy and why does he want to kill us so badly!" Peeta didn't waste any time in cutting right to the chase.

"We don't know all the information he gave us was false. We tried Scanning him for a background check but nothing came up. Wadera does not exist. WE do know he wants you two dead very badly. We're not taking any chances with your lives."

"What's that supposed to mean I don't follow" Peeta says.

"To make this a simple explanation all I'm going to say is that we have arranged for the two of you to be escorted out of the city and into a safe house. There you can lay low and possibly start searching for a cure for his problems."

"Why not just send us back to 12 we'd be a lot safer at home" I point out.

"That's the first place they would look. Besides it will be safer if very few people know where your location is. Myself, Mr Abernathy and Miss. Trinket will be the only ones that have any knowledge of where you will be staying. Don't worry Miss. Everdeen we won't let someone hurt you just because you brought peace and screwed President Snow over."

"Do you still want me to kill Wadera?" I asked.

She nods "I do, but for now it isn't safe. Let us figure out Whats going on, who he is. Let us get him right where we want him and then we will let you finish him."

"Why me?" I mutter.

"Because your our mockingjay and we need you"

I rolled my eyes I was so sick of hearing people say that. I didn't want to be there mockingjay anymore. I wanted to live my life in peace; like I have been for 5 years. Paylor went on and on for a couple of minutes explaining to us that we leave at dawn, that this is our last night here. We are hurried out of the building and back into the black car that will take us back to the hotel room. I can't believe they were making us go into hiding like a bunch of cowards. If I had my way I would search for the Son of a gun right here and right now. I'd put an arrow through his skull I wasn't afraid.

"How long do you think it will take them to find him, get things under control and have me kill him?" I ask Peeta.

He shrugs. "I don't know Katniss."

I could tell by the tone of his voice he was frustrated, he didn't want to do this. All he wanted to do was find a cure, get himself better and go home. He didn't want to find himself in the middle of a capitol conflict and he sure as hell didn't want me in the middle of it. Hell he didn't want me here at all, but I came anyway because of my love for him and besides if going into hiding kept us safe from being killed then I'd do it. I'd do anything to keep Peeta safe. I love him like I've never loved another person. I quickly glance down at my engagement ring and a small smile appears across my face. Peeta must of seen my smile because he raised his brow up at me in confusion.

"I can't wait to marry you" I say pointing at my ring on my left ring finger.

Peeta only smiles and stares out the window. The storm is rolling in closer you can hear the thunder rolling in the distance,rain started to sprinkle the city, soon it would turn into a full fledge storm. A storm that could possibly send me into a fit. I don't do well when it came to storms and he knew it. I looked down at my ring again and smiled.

"Mrs. Katniss Rose Mellark" I smiled widely. "I actually like it"

"I like it too"

"After this We'll get married, get pregnant and live our lives in peace."

He didn't say anything he just stared out the window watching the now large droplets of rain pound against the ground. At the moment he seemed so distant; it was like something was bothering him. I placed a hand on his shoulder and he jumped a little, but turned around and faced me.

"I love you"I tell him.

"I love you too and I promise you Kat, We will get through this. I will get better, this Wadera guy will be exposed and you will kill him to ensure Panem's safety" He mumbles.

"Why is he doing this? Why does anyone want to kill us?"

"My guess is its revenge, that would be the common reason or he likes the way Snow ran things so much that he is trying to make that happen again."

I bit my bottom lip and thought for a moment. "You think Snow had kids?"

"It wouldn't surprise me. What did you have in mind?"

"Maybe Wadera is his kid" I suggest.

"I don't know Katniss I really don't."

The car took us back to the room. I took a seat on the couch and laid down on it. The storm outside was beginning to rage and I had to keep telling myself it was just a storm nothing else. That I was safe and Peeta was safe, but were we. Someone tried to kill us yesterday and to top that off it scared the president into shipping us into a safe house just so nobody would put a bullet in our skulls. I picked myself up off the couch and entered the bedroom where I proceeded in packing up my clothes. The door opened a little bit and Peeta came inside with a look of worry on his face.

"Can you hold me?" I asked him quietly.

He crossed the room, gently scooped me up into his strong arms and carried me over to the bed. The thunder boomed through the sky and I tightened my hold of him. He laid me down on the bed and then proceeded in removing his shoes. I kept my eyes shut, I didn't want to see the bright flickers of lightening seep through the window. I was never a fan of storms, the scared the life out of me even when I was a little girl. I would get so scared I would go into my parents room and curl up on my fathers side on the bed. He would hold me and comfort me until I fell asleep. I would always wake up in my bedroom the next morning. This was way before Prim was born when I had my mother and father to myself. The bed shifted and Peeta laid beside me, my head went to his chest while he wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you" I tell him for the thousandth time today.

"I love you too" He replies and pecks me on my forehead.

I pick my head up off his chest and kiss him lightly on the lips. He returns the kiss and deepens it. I can tell that he wants me just by the way he is kissing me, but now is not a good time to be making love. Not when Effie or Haymitch could walk in any minute. We settled for kissing each other for as much as we could stand. As soon as we really got into it and he rolled on top of me that was when the door opened and Haymitch flickered on the lights.

"I swear you two are like rabbits" Haymitch snorted.

"What do you want?" I asked in a snippy tone of voice.

"to make sure your not loosing it sweetheart" Haymitch says.

"I'm fine" I assured him. I pushed against Peeta's chest and caused him to roll off of me. I didn't want him on top of me with Haymitch standing in the door frame.

"Why do they feel the need to hide us, I can kill everyone that stands in my path" I say.

Haymitch raises a brow at me and snickers. "Look what happened last night. Them people attacked the mansion just to get to you"

"I was unprepared. I could of taken them" I say confidently.

"Your not super women sweetheart. Now if you don't mind I'd like to borrow your boy toy"

"What for?" Peeta asked.

"We need to look at your sitiches and we need to chat for a couple of hours about your problem boy. Sorry sweetheart, for interrupting you too. Looked like you guys were about to get down and dirty"

My face turned a deep shade of red as did Peetas'. I hated it when Haymitch made these remarks about us. Peeta got up from the bed and I immediately felt abandon, He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead and then the lips, assuring me he'd be back in no time. Haymitch made a gagging sound and as soon as our lips parted I shot Haymitch a dirty look and gave him the bird. Peeta kissed me again before heading out of the room, shutting off the light in the process. I was exhausted even though I really didn't do that much today. I curled up under the silk sheets and stared up at the ceiling. The thunder blasted through my ears and all I can think about was the cannons in the arena. I placed a pillow over my head hoping to drain the noise out. No such luck, it was too loud. I whimpered and whined as memories started flashing through my mind, memories of dead tributes, memories of my sister, eventually I fell into a deep sleep.

I don't know how long I was asleep for, but I woke up to the bed dipping down and a body getting into it. The storm outside had not let up. Thunder still rumbled, lightening still crackled. A pair of hands found my mouth and covered them. I snapped my eyes opened hoping to stare into Peeta's beautiful ocean blues, but they weren't his. I yelped and tried thrashing against the man's grip, but it was no use he had me pinned with his body. His one hand covered my mouth as the other reached into his pants pocket and pulled an extremely long bladed knife out of his pockets.

"Shh don't make a sound" He says.

I thrashed and kicked, refusing to hold still, I shouted as loud as I could, but my shouts were muffled by his fingers.

"Your security sucks you know that. It was easy getting into this building and since that mentally unstable boyfriend of yours and that drunken retard left. your all mine mockingjay." He removed his hands from my mouth and as soon as he did I spit in his face. He used his free hand to slap me as hard as he could across the face, while the other hand holding the knife came up and placed the blade against my neck.

"Stop fighting or I'll kill you quicker." He threatened.

"Get off me or I'll kill you" I threatened back.

"Oh honey you did enough killing, You killed a great man"

"I didn't kill Snow, He got trampled on."

Wadera smiled. "I'm talking about my brother, you know the man that should of won the games, the man that supposed to win the games. Snow said it would be rigged, he said that. That old bastard lied to me or did he. Maybe he didn't know how strong you where, nobody really new how strong you were. You weren't seen as a threat and neither was Peeta. You were both an easy kill for him."

"Who are you talking about?" I spat and he hit me again and told me not to interrupt him. He placed his hands back against my mouth and pressed the top of the blade harder against my neck.

"We did everything for the president, Our family was well liked in his eyes. He loved our family like it was his own, When my brothers name was picked He promised it would be an easy win for him, But then you survived the bloodbath, you outlasted numerous tributes. Its taken me a long time to get these group of people together and take back Whats ours. I want to kill you for my brother, for putting your pretty little self into things that don't concern you."

I don't understand what he is talking about, but something deep inside me told me I had to listen to each word he was saying. I had to remain calm and think of a way to get out of here. I could lift my leg and hit him between the legs, but that would only make him slice open my neck. He took his one hand off my mouth and creased the side of my cheek.

"It's a damn shame I have to kill you, Everything about you is beautiful" His whole hand grabbed hold of my entire jaw, "Your eyes, your hair, your lips" He placed his lips on mine and kissed me. I thrashed my head to the side breaking our lips apart. "Your taste is even good. If I wasn't such a gentlemen I would test how you feel, but I don't do that women. I'm not like that sick jerk in district 12"

"How do you know about that?" I question.

"Hass told Paylor everything about you and all I had to do was listen. I know everything about you and Peeta. How you two were pregnant, how he left you because of the venom that coursed through his veins which by the way there is a cure to it."

"Tell me" I demanded.

"I could tell you and you can take it to your grave"

"Why are you doing this?" I shout out.

"I told you why, you killed my brother. He was supposed to win, not you. Even Snow couldn't predict what you were going to do. He tried everything in his power to kill you. He tried those Mutts, those fireballs, he tried leading the careers right towards you. Cato would of killed you if it hadn't been for Peeta. Least he chopped off his leg."

"Cato? Whats this got to do with him?" I asked confused.

"He's my brother you worthless trash and you killed him." He threw the knife aside and started to pound his fists against my face, but I wasn't going to take it, I thrust my knee between his legs causing him to groan out in pain and roll off of me for a split second. I hopped off the bed and made a grab for his knife laying on the floor, I almost had it, but the feeling of being lifted off the ground by my braid cased me to yell out. Wadera picked me up and threw me across the room. My head hit the wall and I lay their dazzled for a moment.

"I'm going to kill you with my brothers blade" I heard the sword or knife whatever it was, being picked up off the ground. I crawled away from him, my vision was blurry.

"PEETA!" I Scream at the top of my lungs. I got to my feet and stumbled over to the large vanity that we had in the room, Wadera was right behind me, his sword at the ready, he was ready to cut clean through my chest. I grabbed hold of a flower vase and bashed him in the face with it. Pieces of glass stuck to his face and he dropped Cato's sword. "PEETA" Still no answer, I fumbled with the door knob and was about to exited the room when Wadera's large body came crashing into mine. I fell between the door frame and smashed my head off the floor again.

"Die bitch" Wadera said and raised the sword.

To be continued...


	17. Safe and Sound

I got one thing to say before letting you all read the next awesome chapter in the story. I was reading my first story fire and flames and some of the content may be a little much for younger readers so I may have to change the rating to M just to save my ass, same goes with this story; I don't know what to do what do you guys think should I leave it T or change it to M, but I will let you all know this, if FF deletes all my hard work on Fire and Flames and Bleeding Diamonds, thats it I am done with the site and will not write anymore. I will not spend hours and hours of my time, working hard on something, pouring my heart and soul into it and then have it get deleted. I have lost all respect for FF for doing that to people. Sex is a part of life and like I said before characters are going to do it and you cant stop that. So just to let you all know if they delete Fire and Flames or Bleeding Diamonds I'm done. Hopefully that wont happen. One more thing I am going back and fixing all the mistakes and possibly adding some stuff when this series is over.

Chapter 17

Safe and Sound

"Die you worthless piece of trash" Wadera grinned at me and then pressed the tip of the blade against my neck, I lifted my knee and hit him between the legs, causing him to roll off me. He let out a low groan and I scrambled away from him. Between the legs was a man's weakness and I was really grateful for it. I scrambled to my feet and was about to go down the stairs, but I stopped and scooped up the sword that was laying beside him. I hit him with the handle and he let out a painful wail. I bolted from the room and threw the sword over the railing. It landed with a loud bang at the bottom of the stairs. Shit why didnt I take the chance and kill him with it. My mind was racing and I really didn't think about anything other than getting away from him.

"You dumb bitch!" I hear Wadera scream. He bolts out into the hallway after me and grabs hold of my hair before I get a chance to fly down the stairs. "You took two of the most important people away from me." He throws me hard against the floor and I bash my head hard, seeing stars. His hands grab hold of my throat and he begins squeezing the life out of me. My left hand swings up and I claw him as hard as I can in the face, causing blood to seep from his the corner of his left eye, down his cheek, to the corner of his lips. He fights back by punching me in the lip, cracking the delicate skin. The sick taste of copper liquid fills my mouth and his hands are wrapped tightly around my neck again. I hear the front door open downstairs and immediately I start kicking and attempting to scream, hoping whoever it was down there could hear me. My vision was becoming blurry as Wadera's hands tightened around my neck. I couldn't breath, couldn't think. This was it, this was the end of the girl on fire. The girl who saved so many children from being reaped. I closed my eyes and focused on images of Peeta's blonde hair, his beautiful blue eyes and sweet smile. If I was going to die here and now I wanted to see his face in my mind. I wanted to remember his touches, his kisses, everything about him.

Just when I thought the end was near a large puff of air filled my lungs and I gasped and cough, trying to fill my lungs. I snapped my eyes open and came face to face with gray eyes and jet black hair. I realized Wadera was no longer straddling me, choking the life out of me. I stared into the mans gray seam eyes and a small smile appeared of my face. I had no idea how long I have been out nor did I care.

"Hass" I choked out, coughing and wheezing.

"Kitten your alive" He says pulling me into the most bone-crushing hug ever.

"Did you get him?" I asked weakly.

Hass shakes his head. "He got away from me. I was close though. Kitten he choked you so bad that you stopped breathing" He rose to his feet and gently pulled me off the ground. He examined my head, making sure I wasn't bleeding or anything from the hit I took when I bashed my head off the floor. I stumbled a little bit when I stood up, but Hass held onto me and steadied me down the stairs. He led me over to the couch and forced me to sit down. I watched him walk into the kitchen to fetch me an ice pack for my head and a glass of water. My throat burned from Wadera's hands being wrapped around it. I was completely scared to go back upstairs by myself. I soon became aware that I was the only one in the hotel room, that everyone else had to be either downstairs into the lobby or Paylor requested a meeting.

Hass came back carrying a glass of water and an ice pack. He handed me the water which I gladly took and gulped it all down in nearly two big gulps. He chuckled and laid the ice pack on my pounding head.

"How did you get in here?" I asked quietly.

"Haymitch gave me an extra key. Peeta and Him left a couple minutes ago and they had just caught me arriving at my room. They had asked me in the lobby if I would look after you for a couple of minutes while they took care of some business. Haymitch handed me the key. I went upstairs to sit with you and that was when I heard the struggle, that was when I saw him wrap his hands around your throat. My question is how he even got in there without anyone knowing."

"I don't know" I was silent for a second. "Did you contact Peeta and Haymitch."

He nods. "Yeah I actually called the presidents front desk, some police officers should be here any minute,They have to do an investigation and make sure Wadera is no longer in the area." Hass pauses and stares at his large hands, he clutches them and then lets out a deep sigh, running his hand through his jet black hair he looks at me with sorrow in his eyes and says. "I'm really sorry I let him get away from me. I could of had him, but as soon as he saw me he took off. He had to of come through the window or something because he ran back into your room."

"Hass you saved my life for the second time I am not even close of being mad at you, it wasn't your fault he escaped."

"Did he say anything to you?" Hass questions.

"What?" I ask confused.

"Wadera? Did he say anything important to you"

"Tons"

I was just about to tell Hass everything Wadera said to me, but the door opened and Peeta flew in followed by Haymitch, Effie, a couple police officers and the president herself. It was an odd thing seeing the president in a hotel room, usually she never left her big fancy mansion. I rose from the couch and threw my arms around Peeta. He kissed me so hard, not even caring their was a room full of people watching us. I let out a low sob.

"Are you alright?" He asked as our lips parted.

"I'm fine."

"Miss Everdeen can you tell us what happened?" Paylor asked calmly.

I nod my head and faced her. "I was sleeping and he just came in, put his hands against my mouth, told me not to make a sound. He told me he'd kill me quickly. He told me he was Cato's brother and that he wanted me dead because I killed him."

"Cato's Brother?" Peeta question me seriously.

"Yeah, He said I killed a great man and that I was going to pay for it. He then started telling me that him and his family did everything for Snow and that when his brother went into the games, Snow said he would rig it so that Cato would win. He said Snow promised him that his brother would win."

"Is that all he said Miss. Everdeen?" Paylor asked.

"He knew everything about me. About everything that happened to me in 12, everything Hass told you I was doing."

Paylor nods her head at me and mumbles something to the officers standing next to her. They all nod their heads and started searching and securing the area. Paylor took a seat across from me and neatly folded her hands in her lap.

"Alright Miss. Everdeen, We are securing the area as we speak and I will be arranging for a train to take you and Peeta to the safe house in the mountains. We will find information of Cato and the family and hopefully something pops up. I have changed my mind Miss. Everdeen I will not have you kill him. He's too much for you to handle."

This mad me completely angry, why in the world did she think I could not handle him. Yeah sure he was extremely strong and tough and it didn't take much for him to overpower me, But did she really think I was that weak. For god sakes she sent a spy into 12 to watch me, befriend me and eventually convince me to come to the capitol that way she had bait. Wadera wanted to kill me alright and he wanted to do it without mercy. Was it possible Paylor knew that he wanted to kill me? That would explain a lot, me coming here was the perfect plan. He would not be able to control his urges to kill me or have me killed. I have no doubt in my mind Wadera was controlling the peacekeepers, that on occasions attacked the city. He was trying to overthrow it that much I knew and I knew he wanted things back to the way they were. That means the hunger games, the torture, the starving. I couldn't allow that. Did Paylor know the undying hatred he had for me? Did she know by bringing me here she'd put my life in danger. I guess she had to do anything to lure him out.

"I'm not weak you know. I can kill him" I say quietly.

"I have no doubt about that" Paylor says.

"So why send me into hiding?"

"Because Miss. Everdeen, it seems to be you and only you he is targeting. He tried to kill you last night at the party and again tonight. Your life is much to valuable. You did your job, you lured him out, found the source of the problem. I just never would of guessed it would of been my assistant and I would of never guessed he had that much hatred for you."

"He said I killed his brother Cato"

"Who is this Cato?" Paylor questions curiously.

"He was a tribute during our games, came in second after Peeta and I." I said.

"I didn't know he even had a brother" Peeta commented to himself.

"If his brother was a tribute in the games then finding information on him will not be difficult, something is bond and determine to led us to Wadera."

The officers came back a couple minutes later and told Paylor the area was secure. She mumbled something to them and they left the hotel room in a quick but orderly manner.

"Alright I want you at the train station in approximately 2 hours from now. It will give you time to pack your things, say your goodbyes and be on your way" Paylor said.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Peeta's coming with me right?"

I felt him lay a hand on my shoulder and I knew whatever he was going to say wasn't going to be good. "Can you excuse us a minute" Peeta asked Paylor kindly. She nods her head and Peeta leads me to the bedroom. He closes the door behind me and stares at me.

"Your coming with me or I am not getting on that train"

"Paylor left it up to me, but she pointed out some really good points" Peeta says rubbing the back on his head.

"Which was?"

"Me going up there with you, being alone like that. Nobody around to stop me from killing you. I just don't think its a good idea for me to go up there with you and besides time by yourself might do you some good."

"You say, I stay" I say. I inched closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, resting my head against his chest. I felt him kiss the top of my head and let out a deep and defeated sigh.

"I knew there was no arguing with you. I just wanted to get your thoughts on my suggestion" Peeta said.

"The answer is no, I wont go without you. I will kick them, scream at them and punch them in the face if they try to take me away from you." He pulls back a little, leans forward and kisses me very passionate on the lips. He pulled back and stared into my gray seam eyes.

"Alright then I'll go with you, but only on one condition." He moves away from me completely and goes for something in his backpack, that was leaning against the far wall. I watched him pull out a medium sized object. He handed me the objected and I examined it, recognizing it immediately. It was a pocket knife, the handle was a plain black color and the blade on the end was incredibly large.

"Right through the heart if I don't come back" He says.

I slipped the blade into my pants pocket and shook my head at him multiple times. "I won't need it. I trust you"

"I"m serious Katniss, there will be nobody up there to save you if I lose it." He grabbed hold of both sides of my face and stared deeply into my eyes. "Promise me you'll do it if I go"

"No Peeta I wont kill you."

He sighed in irritation. "Will you at least defend yourself with it."

I nodded and he leaned forward and gave me a large peck on the lips. We reentered the living room, all eyes were on us.

"Well have you decided if you are going to keep Miss. Everdeen company."

"I'm going with her" Peeta answered.

"Mr. Mellark this is a very serious decision we got to make sure Miss. Everdeen's life is out of harms way. She is much too valuable." Paylor says.

"Peeta wont hurt me" I tell her.

She shoots me a look of disbelief. "Mr. Mellarks condition is a serious one and having him in the safe house with you all alone...I just don't think it is wise." She mumbles the last part. I frown at her and stared at her hard.

"I will not get on that train without him and besides we've been living together for five years I think I know what not to do to him" I say coldly.

"Fine since theres no arguing with you, both of you please get your things and be at the station in exactly two hours" With that said President Paylor rose from her sitting position an exited the room without another single word to us. I rubbed my temples in frustration and threw my hands up in the air, she was completely frustrating me. One minute she was telling me to kill this man for threatening the peace that Panem had worked hard for and the next minute she was forcing Peeta and I into a safe house; like we couldn't take care of ourselves. I excused myself from the living room and entered our bedroom. I grabbed my stray clothes and started to pack my things. Did she really have to send us on a train tonight. I didn't want to go anywhere I wanted to stay right here and fight the threat. Peeta entered the room with a serious expression on his face, I expected him to enter the room after me. He took care of me, comforted me when I needed it.

"Your frustrated" Peeta pointed out.

"I wish she would make up her mind. First she tells me to kill him and then she tells me to hide. What sense does that make." I grumble.

"It doesn't make sense at all" He agrees.

"I told her I'd kill Wadera for her if she helped you find a cure. This is what its all about, you and me are here for your cure. We aren't here for the capitol, We're here for you, Peeta" I move across the room so I am next to him. I force my way into his arms and lay my head against his warm chest. His arms encircle me and I let out a sigh of relief. "What is he doing? What does he want from me? All I know is that he is trying to kill me and you, and that he was Cato's brother. He blames me for killing his brother, I had to you know. I...Cato...he was...Suffering...thanks to Snow"I was finding it harder and harder to talk without tears threatening to spill from my eyes. " I can't do this no more" Here it comes, here comes the tears. "You came here...to find a cure...Not to fight another war and thats...thats..." I was crying now and Peeta held me tightly. "Thats Whats going to happen! Wadera is the one leading the peacekeepers into the capitol. He is the reason for the chaos..." He wipes my tears away and kisses me before I can continue.

"This is not our problem. Do you hear me? I'll find my cure, Paylor will fix these issues and we will go home and get married. We wont have to fight another war, no more people will be killed. I promise you we will be alright." He kisses me again and pulls me tightly against his chest.

Peeta and I backed our things, it took us twenty minutes tops; we still had awhile yet until we had to go to the train station. I curled up on the couch with him and the two of us began watching TV. We were all over the news, now all of Panem knew someone tried to kill us and it turns out that someone had caught the attack at the mansion on film. It wasn't very good and you could barely see anything, All you could see over the crowd of people was Peeta pushing me and then a loud pop, people screaming and that was where it ended. I looked over at him, he was zoned into the TV and had no idea I was watching him. I gently ran the tips of my fingertips against his injured shoulder, the movement of my fingers was only brief and I barely made contact with him, but it was enough to make him flinch and let out a small groan.

"I just keep hurting you don't I?" I mutter as I lay my head in his lap. I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and face the problems in the morning, but No that was not going to happen as long as Wadera roamed the streets. I prayed that they would find him soon, I didn't want to admit it but I knew deep down that he was a dangerous guy, just like his brother. Never in a million years would I have guess that the past would come back in bite me in the ass. I never would of thought Cato's brother would come back years later after his brothers death and try something like this. It got me thinking maybe he had planned this all along, there is no doubt he sided with the capitol during the war and there was no doubt he knew about me. Would other people come after me as well? Cloves Sister or brother? Marvel's Mother or father? I could see one of Marvel's family member coming after me because I killed him out of pure despite. He killed Rue without any mercy and I was not alright with that. She was a helpless little girl that did not deserve to die. I kept thinking about the encounter I had with Rue's family in district 11. Aanna, Nassi and Rumman, I could not get them out of my head no matter how hard I tried. They were kind to me and someday I was going to return the favor.

"Katniss?" I feel Peeta's gentle hands stroking my hair.

"Hmmm?" I asked him sleepily.

"Did you hear a word I said?"

I rolled over so the back of my head was in his lap and I was staring up at him. "I'm sorry I got a lot on my mind."

"I asked why do you think you keep hurting me?"

"I've done a lot to you Peeta. I led you on, It's my fault your leg's gone. Your were tortured because I didn't make sure they saved you from the Quell, I kissed Gale while the capitol beat the hell out of you and didn't have any remorse. I killed your family because of my determination for peace. It's my fault you were shot, Peeta you need a women who can give you everything and I don't think I am the one for that."

Peeta merely chuckled and I stared at him confused by his behavior. "You really are clueless about how I feel about you"

"I know you love me Peeta but..." He places his hand against my mouth, preventing me from speaking and as he did I kissed his palm.

"It goes deeper than love Katniss. I can't explain it, but love doesn't even begin to cover how I feel about you. I could never be with anyone else. All my pain was never ever your fault." He replaced the palm of his hands with his lips and kissed him hard. "I love you"

"I love you too" I say and leaned up to kiss him again. When our lips parted I stared into his eyes and smiled. He was all mine, nobody was going to take him away from me and I was not going to give him up. I lifted my head off his lap and let out a yawn. We still had two hours to kill before having to make our way to the train station. I glanced at the clock it was almost midnight. Did the trains even run at 2 in the morning? No, but this was the president of Panem we were talking about; if she wanted to she could make the trains run around the clock. Peeta and I talked about anything and everything.

"She did not do that to that poor cat" Peeta said, he was laughing so hard tears were forming in his eyes and mine too.

"Hah I'm dead serious" I tell him.

"Your telling me when Prim was little she took a thermometer and stuck up the cats ass?" Peeta laughed.

"Yeah" I chuckled.

"Why?" He question wiping the tears away.

"She thought he was running a fever and she would always watch my mother work on her patients. Well usually you stick it in the patients mouth. I guess Prim couldn't get it in Buttercups mouth, so she shoved it in other places. Of course there are other ways in checkin a cats tempature" This makes Peeta and me laugh harder. I loved the good memories I had of Prim and had no trouble in sharing them with him, I was curious too about his brothers, about his father.

"Thats hilarious"

"She loved that cat so much. She wouldn't sleep without him and he wouldn't sleep without her." My smile faded as I bit my lip.

"You know its okay to talk about her" Peeta says.

"I know its just hard sometimes" I say. The smile returned to my face and I take his hand into mine "So What were your siblings like?"

"Vex he never failed to make fun of me hah, he only did it to be funny. Bartz was normally the quiet one, but put him around Vex then all hell would break loose, Their full names werre Vexen and Bartzane. I loved my brothers and my father." His smile faded and I knew he was thinking about his mother, the terrible woman that beat him and his brothers. Even his father was a bit scared of her which I didn't blame her. I only met Peeta's mother once and that was when we got home from the first games, before I started to ignore him and way before the Victor tour. She hated me but his father loved me, I remember sitting in Peeta's living room with a glass of water in my hand. I heard him and his mother going at it. She was yelling and screaming at him, telling him he shamed the Mellark name by letting trash into his life, she was telling him how embarrassed she was that her son, A high respectable Merchant son could let a dirty, trashy, skank from seam do those things to him on camera. Eventually after hearing her call me a bitch I left and thats when I started ignoring him.

"I know she was a horrible person Peeta, but she was your mother"

"She didn't act like it though. She told me she hated kids and I asked her why have three and her answer was free labor. She was never nice and I just want the images of her out of my head. I hated the fact that she took great pleasure in holding our hands against the oven racks when we did something bad or smacking us in the face with a wooden spoon. I remember Vex burnt 2 batches of pies, there were 12 in two ovens. He went outside to feed the wastes to the pigs, he got distracted and let them burn. When she found out it was awful. She took the burnt pies from the oven and held his face against the each pans and smeared his face in the hot pies. I'm sorry Katniss this may seem like a horrible thing to say, but I'm not sad that I lost her. If she were here today all hell would break loose, she would hate the fact that I am deeply in love with a girl from seam."

"I understand and I'm sorry she was like that" I felt bad for him for having a mother that would beat her kids. My mother and father never laid a hand on Prim and me when we were growing up. Sure my mother back handed me once that was it though. "Peeta?"

"Yes"

"Can we agree on something?"

He looks at me in curiosity. "Okay."

"If we ever have a baby lets promise not to hit them"

"Alright" He says and kisses me. We spent the next two hours talking each others ears off. He told me all about Vexen and Bartz and I told him about my father, We talked about every happy memory that came to mind. He told me about the time when he was seven, he drew hearts around my name on a piece of paper, which by telling me this his face turned red. His brothers had found that paper and started tormenting him about it. I thought it was adorable that he drew hearts around my name when he was seven. I could picture a mini Peeta drawing and thinking about me. I was just about to tell him about the time me and my father first went hunting, but a loud knock on the door forced me to stand up from the couch. I sighed in irritation as I threw open the door coming face to face with Hass.

"Ready to go kitten?" He questions.

I nod. "Ready as I'll ever be"

Hass helped carry our bags to a car that was waiting in the hotel parking lot, everything was so still and calm out, it was almost eerie. There was at least three guards standing around the vehicle, all armed and dangerous. Hass and Peeta loaded the bags into the trunk and helped me inside the backseat, Peeta came in shortly after and gathered me up in his arms. Hass slid into the front seat, next to the driver and mumbled something into the crock of his neck.

"Clear" He mumbled in a device that was wrapped around his neck.

The car began moving slowly at first and then with such speed.

"I want to say goodbye to Haymitch and Effie before we leave." I tell Peeta.

Before Peeta could answer Hass says. "Their waiting at the train station for you."

We were only in the car for about ten minutes before it pulled into the station. I could barely make out Haymitch's large figure, the darkness clouded my vision the only thing I can see was Peeta's face. He helped me out of the car and went around to the trunk to help unload our bags. I didn't dare move an inch, something wasn't right. I could feel it in my body. Peeta carried a large bag in one hand and slipped his hand into mine with the other. We made our way to the train and met up with Haymitch and Effie. The guards loaded the bags into the train and soon we were ready to go.

"You better take care of Sweetheart boy" Haymitch told Peeta.

"I will always take care of her" Peeta replies.

I hugged Effie tightly and she went on and on telling me to be safe, telling me how much she would miss me. I was just about to say goodbye to Haymitch when a loud popping noise filled the night sky and the guard that was standing by the car dropped to the ground. There was a huge hole in his head and blood started seeping everywhere. Peeta was by my side in a minute, pulling me into his chest and out of harms way. Perfect timing too because another bullet flew through the air and landed in the spot where I was just standing. All around me I could hear gunshots being fired from both sides. Peeta pulled me towards the train and forced me through the doors, he then turned and started to make his way out of the large dining area.

"Where you going?" I asked grabbing his hand.

"I got to get Haymitch and Effie to safety." He says.

"Please you can get shot again and this time they will kill you" I cried out. I refused to let go of his hand. He took me into his arms and placed his hands on either side of my face. I refuse to look at him.

"Look at me baby"

I refused I was angry, upset and scared that he was going back out there. The chances of him getting shot and killed were very high.

"Look at me"

I finally did.

"Trust me" And with that he kissed me so hard before disappearing out of my sight and into the dark night. I made my way to one of the train windows, hoping I could see him. I saw multiple outlines. There were double the amount of people, I couldn't tell who was on our side and who was on theirs, But a lot of people were dropping to the ground dead. I could not make out Peeta no matter how hard I tried. Large footsteps made me whip my head to the side. I scooped up a knife from one of the used table silverware and slowly made my way to the entrance of the train. The intruder entered and I lashed out, Strong hands grabbed hold of the knife and I started into gray eyes.

"Jesus kitten" Hass said as he threw the knife onto a table. "Give me a heart attack."

"Where's Peeta?" I asked frantically.

"You mean he's not in here?"

I shook my head and bolted towards the door. Hass grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back in. "You have to stay in here its not safe for you out there. We are surrounded by peacekeepers. I have no idea how they found out about you being escorted tonight, but men are dropping like flies. "

"I just need to know if he is alright" I yell out.

"Oh hes alive for now" It was not Hass that answered me. Both of us whipped our heads towards the entrance of the train and my heart dropped as I caught sight of the man who tried to kill me not only a couple hours ago. He made his way onto the train and shot Hass and me and devious smile.

"You really thought you were going to survive this time?" Wadera chuckled. He took a step towards me and picked up one of those unused knives.

Hass whipped out a switchblade and stood in front of me "Back up from the mockingjay or this is going to find a home in your heart" He threatened.

"I'm not scared of you Fredrickson" Wadera's smile turns wicket and he examines Hass closely. "Or should I say Odair, yes I know all about you. Finnick Odair's baby brother or is it older brother?"

"None of your damn business" Hass spat.

"Daddy sure got around didn't he. Bad enough impregnating a women from four which Lacy Pricance was a beautiful woman how she ended up with Tribution Odair is a complete and total mystery to me." He grinned.

"Shut up and don't talk about my father" Hass hissed.

"Lacy was at least an acceptable woman, but Vetric... what trash. You must feel shitty since you killed her"

"Hass never killed anyone."

"She died giving birth to him" Wadera laughed.

"How the hell Do you know so much about me" He screams.

"I know a lot trust me. Snow was good at teaching me things, telling me things. He was in fact my second father. Let me ask you something, Did you know Finnick Odair left a nephew behind and a sexy, beautiful woman named Annie."

"So help me god I'm going to slit your throat if you go anywhere near them"

"I didn't go near them, their safe and sound, tucked comfortably in their beds in district four. My boys however is waiting for my orders and once I give them, your poor nephew and his poor sweet widow of a mother will be blow to smithereens, Annie will join her dead husband and Your nephew will finally get to meet his father and it will be all your fault. "

"Don't listen to him Hass he's lying" I spit out.

"Am I?" He grins at Hass and stares at him hard before continuing to speak. "However you hand over the mockingjay right here, right now and I'll call my boys off. Little Annie and Little Finn can continue their pathetic lives."

I had enough of listening to him torture Hass. "This is between you and me, leave Hass alone. You want me because I killed Cato" I forced a smirk to come to my face and took a deep breath. "Funny he wasn't much, kinda easy to kill, it was kind of amusing watching him get torn"

Wadera clutched his fists tightly and set his jaw, any minute now he would come at me, giving Hass Every opportunity to interrupt his attack on me and stab him in the chest.

"Right through the heart, or was it the head. I don't remember. All I remember is the screams from his mouth and the blood smearing down the cornucopia. I bet Snow enjoyed that, since of course it was his idea to bring out the mutts that tore your brother to shreds and then left him to die. I had to do it, I had to put your damn brother out of his misery. He was suffering because of that piece of garbage Snow."

"Stop talking about them Bitch"

He lunged forward, knife in his hand, ready to plunge it into my neck, but as planned Hass intercepted him and kicked him as hard as he could in the stomach. Wadera was no weakling he grabbed hold of Hass and tackled him to the floor. The two men rolled around exchanging punches and kicks. I grabbed hold of the knife I had earlier and was about to plunge it into Wadera's back. There was a loud wailing sound as Wadera's knife came down and pierced Hass's side.

"No!" I scream and lunged forward, I wrapped my hands around Wadera's neck and pulled as hard as I could. He thrashed around, trying desperately to fling me off, which after a couple tries he did and I landed on top of the table. I thought he was going to kill me, but he bolted out of my sight and off the train for some strange reason. I didn't understand why. He had me, all he had to do was plunge a knife into my gut and be done with it. I scrambled off the table and kneeled beside Hass, blood was seeping from his side and he was shaking.

"Please don't" I said with tears in my eyes.

"Make...make...sure Annie...save her please"

"Hass don't please."

"Don't...don't cry kitty...please don't cry"

"Hass!" I cried.

To be continued...


	18. Unexpected

I'm really sorry about having to change the rating from T to M, but better safe than sorry. This story is going in a whole different direction, I had not planned on it doing that way, but it has a mind of its own and I really can't help it haha. So please just ignore the summary because a lot has changed, yes Peeta will try and find a cure, but there are bigger issues going on. I'm trying really hard not to confuse anyone I know its probably confusing some parts. If you are confused just tell me and I'll try to explain it better. Read and review. You know I cherish your reviews so leave as many as possible.

Chapter 18

Unexpected

I started screaming for help hoping anyone would hear me, I stared into Hass's gray eyes and cried. There was still life left in them, so that was a good sign. He was shaking, groaning and blood was coming from his side, soaking the floor. Wadera had hit him deep and it was only a matter of time before Hass left this world and went into the next. I placed both my hands over his wound and applied pressure. Hopefully this would stop the bleeding. His blood covered my hands and continued to go all over the ground. He couldn't die, he just couldn't; Hass was a good friend to me and the thought of him dying was unbearable. He had saved my life twice, once from York and once from Wadera in the hotel room. I owed him, it was my turn to save his life. I screamed and screamed, hoping anyone would hear me. I screamed for help until my lungs burned and finally after what seemed like hours of screaming (but in reality was only a couple of minutes) someone finally came in. Peeta examined the room and was by my side in seconds. He kneeled next to Hass and I, pulling my hands away from Hass's wound so he could inspect the wound himself.

"We got to get him to the hospital." Peeta says and darts out of the train again to fetch anyone that would help him. I took hold of his hand, his eyes bored into mine. I could tell he was in so much pain.

"K-kitt-en" He attempts to say.

"Shh, Don't talk" I tell him placing my bloody finger against his lips. I didn't want him straining himself even more by attempting to talk. Tears continued to cloud my vision and I soon became aware of someone pulling me away from my friend. I was in Peeta's arms again and two guards were attempting to move Hass's fragile body. I watched them carry him out of the train and all I could do was bury my head in Peeta's chest and pray to god that my friend was going to make it.

"What the hell was that?" I finally managed to ask him.

He shrugs. "I have no clue how they even knew that we were being escorted tonight, We killed most of them, but lost a couple on our end. As soon as they retreated thats when I heard you screaming and I thought..." He took a gulp and placed his lips on mine for a quick kiss.

"Wadera stabbed him, I don't know why He's never done anything wrong, too anyone. At least not that I know of." I say.

"He'll make it" He assures me and rubs my arms in a comforting way. We were interrupted by the head security guard coming onto the train and clearing his throat as Peeta and I attempt to kiss.

"The area is now secure be prepared for departure in 10 minutes." He says.

"I'm not leaving until I know Hass is alright"

The guard looks at me in annoyance. "Mr. Fredrickson is on his way to the hospital, you will know of his condition as soon as something changes. Now please get prepared for departure."

"No. Hass is my friend and he saved me twice. I'm not leaving until I know for sure he is going to be okay" I repeated.

"Please Miss. Everdeen, I don't want to have to force you into a compartment, If you still resist I cannot promise that I will not harm you in order to ensure your safety."

Thats when Peeta steps in, "You touch her and that will be the last thing you ever do" He did not like the comment the guard had just made. I smirked a cock smirk at the guard and made my way off the train as fast as I could. I could feel the glares the guard was giving me as I past him. As soon as I stepped foot off the train I could smell the foul stench of blood and fought the urge to vomit. Peeta slipped his warm hand into mine and laced our fingers. I was about to move towards the car, but Peeta stopped me and turned me around so I was pressed against his chest.

"Are you sure you want to endanger yourself some more. We could leave now and let them deal with Wadera." He was hoping I would say yes, hoping I would agree to getting on that train and leaving this horrible city behind. I wanted to leave and go into hiding with him. I wanted to spend days up in the mountains with him, but I couldn't... not now. I would feel horrible if I left Hass behind. He has become my friend and I was not allowed to abandon my friends no matter what.

"Yes Peeta, he saved my life twice. I just need to make sure he is okay." Peeta knew there was no arguing with me about this, he nodded his head and led me towards the car that we had arrived in. The guard standing by the drivers side door, raised his brows in confusion.

"Miss. Everdeen, Mr. Mellark, you two should be on the train to the safe house." He said.

"Take me to the hospital Mr. Odai...Mr. Fredrickson is staying in. Please" I almost slipped and called him by his true last name, not many people knew that his last name was Odair, that he was Finnick's brother; he only told me that. I forgot he had his last name changed when he registered to become one of Paylor's guards, what I didn't know was why he changed his last name. He never gave me a reason. Thinking of Finnick and Hass got me thinking about Annie and Fin, Did Wadera really have boys outside their home waiting for him to give them orders to attack? I knew Annie would not know what to do and that made me worry for her ten times more.I had to get them to safety. There was no way I would be able to go the the safe house now, not when so many lives were in danger. It was time for me to come out of my shell I'd been hiding in for 5 long years, it was time for me to be the girl on fire, the mockingjay. Wadera was going down and I was going to make sure every single peacekeeper went down with him.

I suddenly became aware of Peeta leading me to the backseat door of the car, I missed the conversation he had with the guard, but whatever he said to him must of worked because he was ushering me into the backseat. He closed the door behind him and motioned for me to come and rest my head against his chest. I shook my head and peered out into the dark night, unable to get my thoughts about Hass in order. I was completely worried for him, worried that by the time we got there it would be too late. He couldn't die on me, he just couldn't.

"Are you alright?" Peeta asked. It was a stupid question to be asking at a time like this, but I knew he was just trying to help me.

"If I tell you something you are not to tell a soul" I stare at him with a serious expression on my face.

"What is it?" Peeta asks curiously.

"Let me hear you say it. You won't tell anyone."

"Alright Kat I wont I promise."

"This is serious Peeta"

"I love you, I'll won't say anything. I promise"

I took a deep breath, I knew I could trust Peeta. If I tell him not to say anything then chances are he wont. "Hass is Finnick's half brother. Fin is Hass's nephew."

Peeta's mouth dropped to the ground in shock. "Are you serious? How do you know?"

"He told me that night Wadera tried to shoot us. Remember when I took him outside to talk to him?"

He nods.

"I asked him if everything he told me was a lie and he said yes. He then told me the truth his mother is from 12, Finnick's mother was from 4, They had the same father."

"He met Annie and Fin right, on the trip to the capitol?"

"Yes, it was the first time he realized Finnick left behind a son and wife. How he figured it out is a complete mystery to me,."

"That explains the resemblance."

I look at him confused. "Huh?"

"I thought he kind looked like Finnick, the facial features, not the hair or eyes, but everything else."

"He said they resemble their father a lot. Hass has a mixture of both his parents" I was silent for a couple of minutes, The soothing sound of the car zooming down the road filled my ear. I rubbed my arms and continued to stare out the window. Peeta scooted closer to me and rubbed my arms, He was trying hard to warm me up. I hadn't even realized I was cold until my body gave these small little shakes and goose bumps covered my arms.

"I'm scared for Annie and Fin" I say.

"Why?" He questions.

"Because Wadera threatened them to Hass. He said he had people watching them outside their home and that one small move and he can have Annie and Fin killed. Wadera told Hass that if he wanted his boys to back off then all Hass had to do was let Wadera have me. He wouldn't do it and now look at where he is at..." I bit my lip trying to hold back tears. "He is fighting for his life because of me."

"Don't do that" Peeta tightened his arms and held me closer. "Don't blame yourself."

"But it is my fault Peeta all I do is get people killed and if Hass dies it will be all my fault." I bury my head into his chest and allow him to hold me, he strokes the top of my head multiple times and presses kisses. I began to think maybe he was right in leaving me in the first place, maybe if I was still in district 12 none of this would of happened. There is no way I'd still be in district 12 because Hass's mission from Paylor was to befriend me and convince me to go back to the capitol with him. The peacekeeper issue could be drawn out and taken care of. I think back to the day where we celebrated Haymitch's birthday. Flavius knew things in the capitol were heating up, did they all know it was this bad? Did they all know this man wanted to kill me? Why couldn't Paylor just come and asked me herself? Why couldn't she ask me to come back to the capitol? Why did she have to send this Hass. He was so sweet, Friendly and kind, he did not deserve to be fighting for his life right now. Why did I have to meet him? Every single person I have ever met ended up dead, hurt or worse insane. Of course if I hadn't meet him that night York tried to rape me, If he hadn't rescued me from that then there was a good chance that York would of raped and then killed me.

"Peeta?

"Hmm?"

"We got to save him please" I say.

Peeta sighs. "I'm sure the doctors are doing everything they can" Peeta comforts me.

"Thats not good enough I have to save him. You don't understand. He saved me from being killed Peeta, he saved me from being raped. I can't let him die" I repeat for the thousandth time. Peeta frowns as the word rape escapes my mouth. I knew he hasn't forgotten about what York tried to do to me and it scared me to think about what he is going to do to York when we got home. That is if we make it out of this mess, that is if he finds a cure to his hijacked memories.

"Katniss?" The way he says my name makes me shiver and make goose bumps rise to my arms.

"What?"

"Don't remind me about what that bastard has done to you, I haven't forgotten about that. I just start thinking about that bastards hands all over you and sometimes I can't control murderous thoughts that pop into my head. I'm still going to kill York for what he has done to you"

I grab hold of his face with both my hands and turn his head so that he is staring into my eyes. "I don't like it when you get mad, Please stop thinking about it. Just please lets focus on Hass."

"I'm sorry"

I lean forward and kiss him.

It took us nearly 25 minutes to get from one side of the city to the other. I was becoming impatient. As soon as the car stopped outside the ER I flew out of Peeta's warm embrace and was halfway towards the hospital doors, Peeta was trailing behind me, having trouble keeping up with me because of his fake leg. I burst thorough the hospital doors and marched right up to the front desk where a young woman was drinking coffee and eating a doughnut. She was thin with blonde hair and horn-rimmed frames, she was something you would see in one of them naughty video I caught Haymitch watching a couple years back. I felt my anger rise, How could she be stuffing her face when a man upstairs could be dying from a stab wound. I stood in front of the desk and waited for her to knowledge my presence. Peeta caught up to me and took deep, long breaths. He took the back of his hand and wiped the small beads of sweat that started to form. He was really out of shape. The woman finally looked up at him, but she didn't look into his eyes. Her eyes traveled up and down Peeta's body, starting from his chest, abs, to his stomach, his large arms, his hips and then his...that does it. I smacked my hand against the front desk and waved a hand at her trying to get her attention. Her eyes snapped away from Peeta and she glared at me.

"Can I help you?" She asked rolling her eyes.

"A friend of mine was stabbed and brought here a couple minutes ago I think, maybe a half an hour ago. Can I see him?"

"Name?" She asked with an hint of attitude in her voice.

"Hass Fredrickson" I tell her.

She sighs deeply and pulls out a list of names of patients, she uses her index finger to skim through some of the names. When she finds the right one she tosses the paper aside and stares up at me in annoyance. She doesn't say anything to me, but she smiles sweetly at Peeta and raises her eyebrow at him. I feel anger boiling inside of me, he is mine and she better back off. I stare at Peeta to see his reaction to her flirting with him. He merely shrugs it off and rubs the back of his head.

"Excuse me can you stop gawking at my boyfriend and tell me if my friend is alright or not" I spit out.

"I don't like your attitude" She says.

"Well I don't like the looks your giving my boyfriend."

"Just get out of my face and sit in the waiting room while I check on your stupid friend." She looks me over and then a grin appears across her face and she rolls her eyes again. I swear I'm going to let her have it if she rolls her eyes at me again. "I know you" She says after a moment of silence.

"Do you now" I say with attitude.

"Your that woman that ruined everything. You know the hunger games were one of my favorite sports and you had to go and spoil all of them. I bet 3000 dollars that the District 2 girl would gouge your eyeballs out with that knife, But no that big ass from 11 killed her and lost me all that money. I was looking forward in seeing her cut up your pretty little dirty face"

"You sick individual I want to talk to your boss" I snap.

"Please do talk to him, get me fired I am sick and tired of working and working just to get paid. Usually daddy just handed me the money, I mean him being a peacekeeper and all; he had a lot. Now I'm done talking to you, Go sit over there out of my face." She points to the waiting room and waves me off. She then turns to Peeta and gets that flirtatious smile. "Now you on the other hand. Hmmm I was rooting for you baby." She got up from the chair behind the best and leaned forward, "The things I could do to you, She'd never be able to do. I'll make you feel so good, You'd never think of her again" That was when she grabbed hold of the front of Peeta's shirt and yanked him forward. I snapped. I lunged forward and ripped her hand away.

"Don't touch him" I pushed Peeta away from her and used my forearm to spill her coffee all over her desk and papers. I was about to leap over the desk and pound her perky little face in, but Peeta grabbed around the waist and pulled me in the direction of the waiting room. He pushed me in a chair and stood in front of me so I could not get up and hit that girl. I was definitely going to make a complaint about her. When I cooled down Peeta took his place beside me and we waited for what seemed like ages, Finally a chubby man with brown curls came waddling in wearing a white doctors vest. I rose from the chair and stalked towards him, ignoring the glares that were coming from the secretary woman.

"Can I help you?" He asked me kindly.

"Yes we have been sitting here for at least 2 hours hoping to hear news on our friend. He was stabbed earlier today and brought here for intensive care. That woman over there refuses to tell us anything, all she did was disrespect My boyfriend and I. She forced us to wait here and we've been in the waiting room ever sense without news."

"Alright what's your friends name?"

"Hass Fredrickson."

He thinks for a moment and then clicks his fingers. "Oh yeah he suffered stab wound to the side and groin." I didn't know Wadera stabbed him twice, I put my hand over my mouth and looked up at the doctor in shock. The chances of Hass's survival are now slim to none.

"Is he going to die?" I asked holding back tears.

"We don't know he is actually still in surgery as we speak. If you can just sit and wait for another couple hours, we'll let you know then. and Miss. Luther will be punished for giving you two a hard time." He assures us. I nodded my head and watch him stalk over to the front desk,He mumbled something to her which I made it out as your fired. I almost felt bad for getting her fired but then I remember her greasy little fingers all over Peeta and the way she betted against us. The doctor made his way back over to us.

"Can you tell me how bad his wounds are?" I ask calmly.

"Your friend was stabbed in the groin and I am sorry to say this he is in critical condition at the moment." He replied.

"You got to save him, Please I'm begging you" I pleaded with the doctor.

"We are doing everything we can for him Miss. Everdeen." He assured me. "My name is doctor Norse, if you have any questions contact me at this number." He hands me a small white card and I have a sudden urge to throw it at him, but I bite my tongue and allow Peeta to lead me over to one of the maroon color chairs in the waiting room. He pecks me on the head before returning to the doctors side and shaking hands with him. I drawl my knees up to my chest and peer out the large glass window next to me. I stare into the darkness with such hatred and anger. He's out there somewhere I know it and knowing him he is planning on killing someone else that I care about. I swear to god if Hass dies I am going to track Wadera down and torture the son of a bitch. If he loves the old capitol so much then I guess he wouldn't mind me torturing him in the old capitol way. I will stab him in the groin, shoot him in the shoulder, wrap my hands around his throat and choke the life out of him.

"Katniss? Are you alright?" Peeta asks waving a hand in front of my face.

"I'm going to kill him Peeta, if Hass dies I'm going to find him and torture him, Capitol style."

"He'll get through it"

Peeta and I stayed in the hospital for what seemed like hours, we talked, paced around the waiting room and he stalked off to find refreshments and snacks. We bought two bottles of water from a vending machine and a unappetizing look debbie treat, which I was not going to trust. Finally after hours of pacing, talking and drinking our water the doctor finally came strolling out with a clipboard in his hand. He had a serious expression on his face as he flipped through the papers on the clipboard. He made his way over to us and cleared his throat.

"Miss. Everdeen."

I rose quickly from my maroon chair and stood in front of the doctor, await the drastic news. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I place a finger in my mouth and bit the nail.

"Your friend suffered serve injuries, but we managed do stop the internal bleeding, his surgery went really well, but he's not out of the woods yet. There is still a chance his body might give up. We're going to keep him overnight for more observations, just in case something happens. He's sleeping right now and its best if he not woken up. You have my card, call if you have any questions or concerns regarding your friend" Doctor Norse said. "Can we have your number please"

"Hmmm?" I looked up at him quickly.

"Mr. Fredrickson seems to have no family members, we were unable to find any relation. You guys seemed to be the only people that know him"

Doctor Norse hands me a small scarp of paper and his fancy pen. I scribbled down the room number and handed it back to him. He nods and examines the piece of paper, sliding it into his white doctors coat. He turns his back to us and walks over to the secretary that gave us a hard time when we first arrived. He mumbled a couple of words to her and she rolled her eyes and frowned. When the doctor left she turned and stared at us hard, giving us the middle finger in the process. I shot her a dirty look and turned to Peeta, who was standing there shaking his head and smiling.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"Nothing at all Kat" He said and pecked me on the forehead.

We walked out of the hospital building hand and hand, my mind was all over the place. I didn't want to leave Hass in a place like this, for goodness sake he was in a capitol hospital and I did not trust anyone in that hospital. The could easily kill him and say it was his wounds. That woman that messed with Peeta and I was very angry with me for changing everything, making things equal. She said the hunger games were her favorite sport and I ruined it. Did all people from the capitol feel that way? Did they all hate me because I made their lives equal to the districts. No, them people at the welcome party refused to get out of the peacekeepers way when they threatened to take me. Maybe it's just a handful of people, Besides Paylor was the president not I. I flashed back into reality and realized Peeta and I was getting into the back seat of the car. He was looking at me as if I was going to throw up or snap out.

"Are you alright?" He asked me.

"Just...I...Don't know"

"How do I make it better, tell me and I'll do it"

"Can you just...just hold me" I order him softly.

He obeys and takes me into his arms for the rest of the drive back to the hotel room. The driver explained to us that we will not be going to the train station tonight, somehow Wadera and his band of peacekeepers were able to find out about our departure and tried killing us. Wadera could of ended me and I was determine to find out way he didn't do it when all the odds were in his favor. The car came to a stop in front of the large hotel room building and the driver bid us goodnight. Peeta grabbed my hand and led me inside the lobby, up to our room where Haymitch and Effie were waiting patently. When we walked through the door the first thing we saw were two of Paylor's guards.

"Mr. Mellark, Miss Everdeen glad you can make it."

"Please allow us to introduce ourselves I am Commander Rend and this is Commander Creft" He introduced.

"Its nice to meet you both, but with all do respect I"m tired, upset and a bit annoyed at the fact that my friend is fighting for his life" I say with sudden anger in my voice. All I wanted was too lay down and go to sleep with my head on Peeta's chest and my arms curled around him.

"We understand Miss, but there are things you need to be aware of" Rend said.

"Such as?" I ask.

"We will be escorting you tomorrow evening instead of tonight, this time you will have extra precautions and the only people that are aware of it will be myself and commander Creft. President Paylor believes we have a spy in our mitts, she believes the spy told Wadera what we were planing on doing with the two of you."

"Tell the president I change my mind, there is no way I'm going to a safe house now."

Rend bit his lip. "Miss. I don't know if the president will allow..." I cut him off.

"I don't care, its my choice and I was going to go up there, but now that this man has shown me he means business in threatening the peaceful state of this world and since he thought it was oh so wise to stab my friend in the groin and side, I will take my time in bashing his face into the ground. I'll make him join his ruthless, heartless brother if thats what he wants." The girl on fire was slowly rising after all these years, she was resurfacing, no more crying, no more hiding and above all no more weak Katniss. Katniss Everdeen was not a crybaby, she was strong, she was a huntress and my prey was once again a ruthless human. I was going to kill Wadera no matter what. I suddenly became aware of everyone in the rooms eyes were on me. Peeta shoots me a 'I'm so proud of you look' Haymitch shoots me a shitty as grin and Effie looks at me like I have just said something I shouldn't.

"Very well if that is what your request is. I shall tell Paylor and leave for the night. I bid you goodnight Miss. Everdeen we will be back around noon" Rend nodded his head towards me in respect and Creft followed him out of the hotel room door. As soon as they left I patted my way into the bedroom and flung my body against the soft surface of the mattress. I didn't realize how tired I was or how late it was. The clock was going on 4 am and already I could feel my eyelids begin to close. The door creaked open and I could barely make out the outline of Peeta's body. He tiptoed quietly over towards our bags and began rummaging, trying to find his pjs. He discarded his jeans and slid on a pair of sweats, he pulled his shirt up over his head and was about to pull a tank-top on, but I stopped him.

"Leave it off" I mumbled into the pillow.

He obeys and crawls into bed with me shirtless. I love it when he sleeps without a shirt, his warm bare skin feels so good against mine. As soon as he lays down I rest my head against his chest and lift up to gently to kiss his bare chest.

"Do you really want to go up against him?" Peeta questions.

"Yes, I wanna kill him. I"m going to kill him"

"Can you handle this?" Peeta asks in concern.

I shake my head. "No, but killing Wadera means Paylor has to keep her word and find you a cure"

He lets out a deep and guilty sigh. "I'm sorry...for everything."

I shifted to my side so my head and on his shoulders, I take his face between my hands and stare into his eyes. "I love you and you have nothing to be sorry for"

"Yes I do, I got you into this mess. If I wasn't so weak I would of been able to fight off that episode, I would of been able to come back to you instead of pushing you down those stairs and..."His voice trails off and I"m pretty sure he has his eyes squeezed tightly shut. "You would be carrying my baby right now. A baby that would look like her mommy, have her mommy's dark hair, gray eyes and beautiful personality."

"It wasn't meant to be. I don't think we were meant to have children Peeta...Ever" I tell him.

I can vaguely see the outline of his lips in the darkness dip down into a frown. "You wanted one eventually didn't you?"

"Yeah, but now I"m thinking a lot about it and now I"m not so sure."

"What are you talking about Katniss?" His voice sounds hurt and I could feel his body tensing under my touch. I didn't want to hurt him like this, I knew he wanted kids more than anything else in the world, but after thinking about it so much I can't do it. I was so ready to give into his desires without even thinking about it, but now I see clearly and a baby is the one thing I cannot succeed in doing.

"I can never have a baby." I kiss his bare chest.

"Why not?" He asks.

"Who will try to overthrow the capitol once Wadera is gone? Who will want Paylor dead, the hunger games reinstated. I thought after the war ended five years ago that everything would be fine, but here we are five years later, lives threatened, people dying, friends dropping. We got mixed up in the middle of a war again. It never stops Peeta, like you said I will always be the mockingjay and when things go wrong who do you think they will turn to in order to keep the people of Panem calm. Me"

"We can go away far away so they can't find us. There are other countries out there"

"I cant too many people need me and besides District 12 is my home."

"It's my home too and I will be more than willing to give it up for you. If leaving Panem meant we can finally live a peaceful life then I'd do it. I'd sell the bakery, I'd sell the victor house. I'd do anything and everything in order for you to live a perfect, peaceful life." I titled my head up and give him a soft, sweet open mouthed kiss.

"I don't deserve you" I mumbled between our lips. "You re just the best damn thing that has ever happened to me and I don't even deserve it"

"Shh you deserve everything and I"m gonna give you everything." He kisses me again and the sighs "Alright you should get some sleep"

I shake my head. "No, you should be making love to me right now"

He connects our lips, rolls on top of me and we make slow, sweet love until the sun comes up. I wake up a couple minutes later to the sound of Effie rapidly pounding on our door. It's one of her urgent knocks so I quickly roll out of bed, bringing the sheet with me. Peeta shivers as I expose his naked body to the entire room. His eyes open and he stares at me with a smile on his lips. I pull on a pair of pants and one of his large shirts while he pulls on a pair of boxer-shorts. Effie knocking increases and I bolt towards the door, nearly tripping on our suitcases.

"What Effie!" I ask flinging the door open.

"Your friend is awake. The hospital called and said he is talking" She says.

"Are you serious" I asked with tears of joy. "Hes alive?"

"Yes, they said you can come and visit him if you want to."

"Alright I'm going now" I say.

"You can't its almost noon and there is something else too."

I raise a brow up at her. "What?"

"We had two unexpected people arrive this morning. They are in the living room"

I bolt past Effie and trudged into the living room, when I got there my mouth dropped to the ground as two very important people gazed up at me with smiles on their faces.

"Hi Catnip"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well its good to see you too" Delly said patting across the floor, she threw her arms around me and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. Just then Peeta entered the living room in a pair of shorts and tank-top. Delly squealed as soon as she saw him and rushed over to him. I turned my attention to Gale and glared at him. He had no right to be here, As much as I'm happy to see him I am also pissed that he would follow me here and dragged Delly along with him. I wanted to send them away, back to 12. It was not a good thing for them to be here. Wadera was going to use them against me. I could not handle it if Wadera shot Gale through the skull in front of my or if he sliced open Delly's neck in front of Peeta. They were our best friends and the second best thing for Wadera to use against us. The first best thing was for him to use Peeta against me and Me against Peeta. I walk over to Gale and throw my arms around his neck. We hugged for a couple of seconds and then he places a kiss on my forehead.

"I missed you Catnip" He said sweetly.

"You shouldn't of come" I muttered, "But I missed you too"

"Catnip I had to come I couldn't take it any longer. The news said you were attacked. They said one of you got shot and I..." His eyes squeeze shut, he clutches his hands into fists. "I thought you were dead. The media said someone received a fatal gunshot wound to the head and then they showed video of the attack. I vaguely saw you go down and then the screen went blank. I wasn't going to come after you, but once Delly and I saw that video we both thought the same thing. I know I shouldn't be here believe me I should be protecting my sister and brothers, but I...your my best friend and I love you"

"I'm fine Gale, Peeta pushed me out of the way and was shot in the shoulder for it. Everything is fine. "

"I had to come" He mutters.

"Are they safe? Vick, Rory and Posy? Are they safe?" I ask.

He nods, "Yeah, Your mother, Greasy Sae and Avara is looking after them and you wanna know something that piece of shit York left town." A shiver runs down my spine at the mere mentioning of that mans name. I still haven't forgotten what he has done to me and neither has Peeta. "I wasn't going to leave 12 because I was afraid he might hurt Posy, but then he vanished nowhere to be found. Same with his sister."

"I don't care about them, as long as your safe and your family is safe. Thats all that matters."

"No I'm glad your safe" He pulls me into a huge hug, then he pulls back and pinches me hard on the shoulder. I let out a whimper and punch his shoulder.

"What was that for?" I question rubbing the sore spot on my shoulder.

"For drugging my hot chocolate" Gale snickers.

I roll my eyes and punch him again. He laughs and tries pinching me again. I was happy to be reunited with Gale and Delly and wanted nothing more than to spend the entire day with them, but I had other things to worry about. One Commander Rend and Creft would be here shortly to escort me to the presidents mansion for further discussion on the safe house plan. Then there was Hass to think about. I wanted to go see him before the commanders got here, but that was impossible. The important thing was Hass was awake and he was talking and that bastard failed in killing him. I was beyond angry that Wadera threatened Hass and...My thoughts deepened and I placed my hand over my mouth. Gale looks at me as if I'm losing it.

"Whats Wrong?" He asks.

"Annie, Finn I forgot to tell them that he threatened Annie and Finn" I bolted out of the hotel room in nothing but Peeta's shirt and a pair of sleeping pants. This was all my fault how could I have forgotten to tell them that Wadera threatened Annie and Finns life. If he hurt them it will be all my fault.

To be continued...


	19. Warnings And Relaxation

Hey people how are you guys. Does anyone know how to do that little line break? If you can you tell me I'd love to know, I know it's probably not hard or anything, but just let me know. Alright a couple things. One I can either write it to where Delly falls out of love with Gale and in love with Hass and Hass in love with Delly. or I could make Hass falls in love with Annie and keep Delly and Gale together. I want you to vote Delly and Gale. Gale and Annie. Hass and Delly. Hass and Annie. It's up to you guys I could go either way. This chapter is all lovey dovey, but don't worry the next one won't be as sappy.

Chapter 19

Warnings and Relaxation.

I plowed through the double doors that led to the presidents study, completely ignoring the fact that Commander Rend and Creft were behind me, telling me to slow down. The president was in the middle of a meeting and would not see me until it was time. I was really early for my so called appointment, but really it was Paylor who had to decide what she was going to do with me. I thought a lot about it and decided I didn't need protection, what I needed was to join their squad or army, whatever the hell group they had going on. I didn't care about anything other then getting near the president and spilling my guts about Wadera threatening Annie and Little Finn. I prayed to god Wadera was bluffing ,trying to trick Hass into handing me over. Of course it didn't work. Hass looked him straight in the eyes and told him no and look where that got him. In a hospital bed. I wasn't taking any chances when it came to Wadera; Bluffing or not he threatened someone I care about and stabbed another, he shot Peeta and choked me and I was going to make him pay dearly.

I entered Paylor's study and immediately her eyes met mine, she had a look of discipline written on her face, but she calmly pushed those looks away and gives me a small smile. Rend and Creft came in the study a couple seconds later, breathing heavy, sweat dripping across their foreheads. Obviously they had a hard time keeping up with me which was funny considering they were both commanders of a squad or what not. I had ran all the way up here as soon as the car that brought me here stopped in front of the Manson. The study was large, there was a desk by the window and bookshelves all along the wall. There was a fireplace and a couch in front of it. The whole room was probably the size of my old house. I missed my home from seam, it wasn't very big or impressive, but it was still a place I could go to feel safe and sound. Now the comfort of Peeta's arms are what keeps me safe and sound. His arms, his house, his lips and just about everything.

"Sorry madam we tried to make her wait" Rend apologized to his president.

"No need for apologies the girl is always in a rush" Paylor smiles. She leans back in her chair and waves the two young men sitting in front of her desk away. They nod their heads at her in respect and calmly marched out of the study in such a formal way. Whatever matter they were discussing could wait, it was really important I tell Paylor everything that happened last night at the train station. I needed to tell her about Wadera threatening Annie and Finn that way she could send someone over to retrieve them if it was necessary. If Wadera was telling the truth and he had boys watching her, Would Annie believe me? Would she be willing to leave her home if it meant for her protection? She had Finn to think about so the answer would probably yes if Finn was in danger.

Paylor motions for me to take a seat in front of her which I do. I sit down on the comfortable black leather chair and I cross my legs, fold my hands and stared at her. There is so many things I need to tell her and so little time. Wadera could be killing Annie and Finn right now as I sit here and tell her everything. The thought of little Finn brings tears to my eyes and Wadera's words begin to repeat in my mind 'Annie will join her dead husband and your nephew will finally meet his father' I can't get those words out of my head.

"Miss Everdeen you weren't scheduled until this afternoon, but since your here might as well get on with it." She folds her hands neatly in her lap and skims through a large stack of papers sitting on her desk. "Our attempt to escort you out of the city last night was a complete failure, the peacekeepers knew we were planning to move you and Mr. Mellark. How they figured it out is a complete mystery to me. I'm glad your safe girl" Paylor smiles.

"I need to go to district 4" I blurt out.

Paylor raises her eyebrows up at me in confusion. "oh and why's that?"

"Because Wadera threaten Annie and Finn" I yell out.

"Alright girl clam down and tell me what happened. Tell me everything"

"Wadera was on the train with me while your people were fighting his. He kept taunting us, telling us how he was going to kill people we love. He told me he had people outside Annie and little Finn's home in district 4 and that if we didn't do what he wanted then he was going to kill them, blow them sky high"

"Who was in the train with you?"

"Hass and I talked with him." I reply

"Who he threatened them to?"

"Ha..." I began but bit my lip, "Me, He told me it would be my fault, that all I had to do was come with him so he could kill me, that way Annie and Finn would live."

"He attacked you after?"

"He tried, but Hass fought him and in the end Wadera stabbed him twice."

Paylor let out a small gasp and her hand covered her mouth in shock. They must not of told her that some of her men were laying in the morgue and some of them (like Hass) were wounded in a hospital bed. She placed her head in her hands and rubbed her temples in frustration. I wouldn't blame her for being extremely frustrated at the moment. This job she had was extremely difficult and stressful. I took advantage of her silence and examined the small amounts of gray hair that was forming on the top of her scalp. She didn't have that a few days ago, so maybe the saying about stress can cause gray hair was true.

"They didn't tell you about Hass getting stabbed and about some of your men dying?" I question her.

"I was aware that we had lost a few, but I was not aware that Mr. Fredrickson was stabbed"

There was a brief pause between us. "I don't want to hide" I tell her.

"Miss. Everdeen this situation is too dangerous we cannot allow you to..."

"I'm not weak!" I yell cutting her off.

Paylor bites her lip and fiddles with a stray pen on the edge of her desk. She taps her foot on the floor multiple times. She is so deep in thought that I begin to wonder if she has lost herself in a mental argument. You could tell she is having a mental battle with herself. Finally her eyes peer into mine and she clears her throat. "My original plan was to have you kill this guy, but after much thought I have decided I want you to hide, You have done your job well. You lured him out into the open that was my purpose for having you come to the capitol to begin with."

"You said you wanted me to kill him and I will. I do not wish to hide. I'll kill him and you all will help Peeta, just like we planned"

"There is no helping that boy" Paylor mumbles. Her words anger me; its like she is giving up on him, viewing him as a lost cause. She gets up from her big comfortable chair and straightens her suit in the process.

"I'm not done talking to you." I say standing up with her.

"Fine Miss Everdeen if your that anxious to die at the hands of this man then whose to stop you. I will call off the order to send you to the safe house and you can join either commander Rend or Creft's squad group. However I will not keep my word in helping the boy. I really hate to say this about him, but he is lost. Theres no helping him." Before I could talk back to her or even open my mouth she was out of the room and out of my sight. I bolted after her, unwilling to let her out of my sight. I was not going to let her get away until she gave me her word that she'd save Annie and Finn if their lives were in jeopardy.

"What about Annie?" I hollered after her. She stopped briefly, turned around and started walking in my direction again.

"We'll send someone over to check on your friend." With that she turned her back towards me and walked away. I felt my anger towards her begin to boil. It was like she did not even care that this man was threatening Annie and Finn. Commander Rend appeared by my side moments later and touched the corner of my elbow gently.

"You will be joining my team Everdeen, I expect to see you bright and early tomorrow morning in the training room center." The training room center, as he says these words my heart falls to the ground. I haven't been in that building for over five years. I don't think I am ready to face my horrors just yet. A lot has happened in that building; interviews, training. I still remember the devious smiles on the careers faces as Peeta fell to the ground during a training exercise. I remember telling him to throw the large exercise ball. He did and showed the careers his unbelievable strength. Peeta was strong and a good fighter, but I wanted to keep him out of this fight. I'd be more than willing to hunt down and kill every peacekeeper that stood in my way, but I didn't want him involved, which I knew he was going to fight me on this.

"Everdeen?" I became aware of Rend waving a hand in front of my face, trying hard to get my attention. I blinked and looked up at him, unaware at what he just said. Was he even talking to me? If he was I didn't hear a word he said.

"I"m sorry, What?" I ask.

"First thing is first Everdeen, When your commanding officer is talking to you there will be no tuning him out, got it?" Rend said calmly.

I rolled my eyes and was about to push past him and walk down the long spiral steps that would take me into the large living room, but he grabbed both my arms this time and held me in place. Commander or not this man had no right to touch me. The only man that had the right to grab me like this was Peeta. I was slick though as soon as his hands were on my shoulders I pulled away from him quickly, distancing myself.

"Don't touch me please" I warned.

"My apologies mockingjay. I just wanted you to listen to me good" He says.

"Alright I"m all ears" I say harshly.

" First,I don't like your attitude."

"You'd have attitude too if you were ripped from your peaceful life" I hissed.

"Secondly mockingjay you haven't been in a combat situation for over five years, was it? Just because your a war hero and a little girl doesn't mean I'm going to give you special treatment. Most of my squad members would say I'm somewhat ruthless when it comes to training"

"Ruthless huh? Are you sure your not the spy commander Rend?"

His eyes widen and a frown forms at the corner of his lips. "Don't be absurd Everdeen. I hate the peacekeeper trash and would love nothing more than to slit their throats and all the people that follow them."

I snickered without humor. "Doing that would make you as bad as Coin and Snow. Wouldn't it Rend?"

He takes a step towards me, I could see the fire that was glimmering in his eyes. I was playing with fire and was about to get burn. He wouldn't hurt him or kill me, I can see it in his eyes, that was not Rend's intentions. He could do other things to me that would make me suffer while we were training, but how would he do it? Would he make me do push ups until my limbs fell off? Would he make me run laps from dusk till dawn?

"Coin? Snow? Hah they were monsters and you killed them like monsters. I praise you for that, but answering your question no I'm not as bad as them. They were freaks, they gave the human race a bad name. People who kill for entertainment deserve to die"

"Nobody deserves to die" I mumble.

"Oh really, so you would rather Coin and Snow live to see the sun rise?"

"No, I wanted them to suffer, the way they made their people suffer. I wanted them to rot away in a jail cell with little food, little water, with nothing to do but go through their memories."

"What would that accomplish?" Rend asked.

"A human being memories are powerful things, eventually the memories of their victims would catch up to them, then the powerful emotion of guilt would set in."

Rend lets out a loud laugh, he approaches me and lays him hands on my shoulders again, he gets close to me, placing his lips against my ear. Then he speaks. "The heartless feel no guilt or remorse Miss Everdeen." He's right, the wicket feels no guilt or despair over what they have done. Rend lets me go, places his hands in his pockets and is on his way down the long narrow hallway whistling a tone that I am not familar with. I feel the knots in my gut tighten as his tune fills my ears. I bolt in the opposite direction of him. I'm desperate to get out of here.

When I get back to the hotel room the first thing I do was call Annie. I had to make sure she was safe, still alive. Peeta was in the kitchen baking what smelled like banana bread which I would have to have some of that when he was done. I picked up the phone and quickly dialed Annie's number. I didn't care that the long distances call would be charged to our room bill. The phone rang a couple times and then to my relief Annie picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she answered her voice tired and run down. Being a single mother was really taking its toll on her, but she did it well.

"Annie? Are you alright?"

"Katniss? Oh its so good to hear from you dear"

"Annie are you alright?" I asks again.

"I'm fine Katniss why?" She asks confused.

"Annie I'm at the capitol, we seemed to be having a bit of a situation here"

"What? Are you okay? What kind of situation."

"Annie, a man threatened your life and Finns"

She gasp, "Who? When? What did we do?" She is starting to panic because of me. It took her an hour and a half to calm down, but once she was calm I explained to her that President Paylor was sending someone over their to keep an eye on her. I also told her there was a good chance that Wadera was lying. I told Annie to arm herself just in case. She sounded scared when we said our goodbyes and I felt guilty for calling and raising panic, but I had to do it. I had to make sure she was alive and well.

I threw my body on the couch and screamed into the dark leather, before I knew it I was being lifted into his arms and he was carrying me to our room so I could relax. I could always count on Peeta to cheer me up, that was his job after all; to make me forget my horrors. He gently laid my body on the soft bed. My legs were hanging off the edge of the bed and Peeta softly untied the laces of my boots. He slipped the boots off with ease and ran his hands up both my thighs.

"What are you doing?" I ask. I wasn't in the mood for a round of lovemaking and he knew it, so why was he trying to seduce me like this. It kind of angered me, did he think he could just take off my clothes whenever he felt like it? Probably not, there had to be a motive to his behavior.

"You need to relax." He said and moved his hands so they were at the button of my pants.

"I can relax with my clothes on you know" I said with attitude in my voice.

"True, but having your clothes on with make my massaging harder to do."

"Peeta I really don't have time for this. I got to go see Hass, get a good nights sleep because in the morning that commander is going to make my life hell!" There was a strong possibility that commander Rend didn't like me for some strange reason. My mind kept going back to our conversation earlier today. I'm not getting special treatment, those were his words to me. I don't expect to get special treatment anyway. I wanted to be treated like everyone else in that squad. Commander Rend was right I haven't been in a combat situation for over five years. I'm rusty and out of shape. That was probably why Wadera overpowered my so easily. He has been training his whole life I"m sure. If what Wadera said was true, if he is Cato's brother then there is a good chance he fights dirty and ruthlessly, just like Cato did.

I take a moment to look down at Peeta, he was in the process of sliding my pants down my legs. My eyes traveled down towards his prosthetic leg and guilt flooded my mind. Cato gave him that when his sword pierced the flesh. If Cato was capable of doing that to him, if he was capable of killing a person without remorse or emotion, whose to say his brother won't do the same. I find it really hard to believe that Snow favored Cato and Wadera's family. It just didn't make any sense. The games were rigged? That just doesn't sound right. Yeah district one and two did have a lot of victors, yeah the careers won the games a lot, but were my games really set and stone? Did snow really have every intentions of letting Cato win out of favoritism. The odds were in Cato's favor. He had everything going for him, A good career pack. His platform was in good position of the Cornucopia. If I recall it was slightly ahead of everyone else.

"Katniss?" I suddenly became aware of Peeta's body hovering over mine, his legs were on either side of me and he was fingering the bottom of my shirt. I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. "Can you take off your shirt please."

I obeyed him and pulled off my blue t-shirt. Now I was in nothing but my black lacy bra and matching panties. He took a moment to drink in my half naked body. I smacked him on the shoulder and shot him a look.

"Your not getting any. I just want you to massage me." I say.

Peeta chuckled and gulp. "Right, uh here" He rolled off of me so his body was next to mine. "Roll over on you stomach so I can reach your back"

I did as he said and as soon as I was laying on my stomach he was straddling me again and his wonderful magical hands went to work. He rubbed both my shoulder blades, down to the curve of my back and up again, it felt really good. I close my eyes and focused on Peeta's hands against my skin. I never knew it could feel this incredibly to have someone's hands touch your back like this. His hands moved lower to my tailbone and then back again. I hated that his hands would hit the clasp of my bra every once in awhile. I didn't want him to waste his touches on the clasp or the fabric that kept my chest covered. I wanted all his touches for myself and that part of my back that was covered by my bra felt abandon.

"Peeta?" I mumbled.

"What? Are you alright?"

"Take it off."

"Hmm?"

"My bra, take it off please."

He obeyed and unhooked the clasp, I shrugged out of it and tossed it aside letting Peeta go to work. I let my eyes close again and focused on his touch, somewhere in between soft touches I managed to close my eyes and fall asleep for a couple of minutes. I was half asleep, half awake. I was still aware of his hands on my back, I have never felt so relaxed in my life. His hands continued to rub me and he suddenly leaned forward and kissed my shoulder blade.

"Your back is incredibly beautiful. It's my favorite part of you. Next to your eyes" He gives me a kiss, "smile" Another kiss. "hands" Another. "and back" And another.

"Really those are your favorite parts on a woman?" I giggled.

I just know he is turning red.

"Uh no"

"What other body part do you like Peeta?"

"Your hair is beautiful when its down"

"I don't think thats it" I wiggle against him and he roll off of me so I can flip on my back, my chest is now exposed to him and his blue eyes wander. I laugh and roll on my side so we are now facing each other. I grab his face between my hands and force his blue eyes to look into my gray ones. "keep your eyes on me" I say. I grab hold of his hands and place them on my chest. He tenses and I chuckle. His hands have never been on my chest, he has only touched me once and that was in the bathroom at home. He doesn't like touching me in a dirty way. His hands never played with my breasts when we make love and they never go to my area, except for that one time in the bathroom at home. He loves taking his time with me. There is a difference between having sex and making love. Sex is ruthless, lustful and unromantic in my opinion. Making love consists of passion, peace and harmony, it is everything gentle and slow.

Peeta's eyes bore into mine, his hands are still at my chest and I could feel him shaking. I don't understand why he is so nervous. We've made love so many times before. I just want his hands in different places. I lean forward and give him a deep, passionate kiss.

"I want to have sex with you" I mumble between our lips.

"Alright we'll make love." He says as our lips part.

"No Peeta. I want to have sex with you" I repeat.

He looks confused for a moment and then shakes his head. "I won't be rough with you"

I smile and kiss him again. One way or another I was going to get my own way. I don't know why I had a sudden urge for this. I lied when I told him he wasn't getting any, I don't know if it was the way his hands were touching me that brought this on, but right now I was completely and utterly excited. Peeta connects our lips and rolls on top of me pinning me to the bed. His fingers knotted in my hair as he kissed me deeply.

(Gale's POV)

I walked down the sandy beach hand and hand with Delly. The cab had taken us to the outskirts of the capitol. I just had to get away from that place for a couple of hours. Every single time I step foot in that place I can smell the burnt flesh, I can hear the screams of young children as the bomb explodes and takes their innocent lives. It's my fault, all of it. I helped build it. Every time I look at the city I see her. Blonde hair in braided pigtails, sweet innocent smile. Prim. I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt her, I never meant to kill her and looking at the freshly built city tells me I did kill her. I took her life away from her and it's not fair. I wish I never would of came to this place, but I had to make sure Katniss was alive. The thought of her dying was unbearable. I needed her so much, she was my best friend in the entire world and I would do anything for her. She was the most important person in my life.

The sand between my toes felt oddly good. Usually the shit got on my nerves, but I really had to say it gave me a sense of peace. I turn my gaze to the large body of water that seemed to go on for miles. the waves crash softly against the shoreline, the sun glittered high in the sky it was all sort of beautiful. Shit, I was turning into a girly, sensual guy. Gale Hawthorne does not use those type of words, forget that ever came out of my mouth. I blame Delly, she was turning into a soft little bitch.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" She asks as we walk down the long sandy beach.

I shrug, "I guess so"

"You know before the dark days they called this body of water the Atlantic Ocean."

"What a stupid name" I mumble.

She merely smiles. "you know there are five major oceans around the world."

I really don't give a shit about bodies of water, but I didn't tell her that. I just smiled and nodded as she went on and on about something I didn't care about. This was so like Delly, going on and on about a boring topic. Her and I were definitely exact opposites, but I didn't care. I still felt the need to be with her. I'd say her and I have been dating for about a month or two, ever since Katniss left on her wild goose chance. It hasn't been a bad experience. Their are certain things I"m not allowed to do with her. I accidently grab hold of her butt the one day our kissing got out of control and as soon as I did she stopped completely and did not talk to me for the rest of the day. It wasn't her fault she got funny when it came to sexual contact like that. She was raped by that piece of trash of a step father. A father that I would love to beat the hell out of.

"Hey Del"

"Hmmm?"

"What if I told you I was thinking about joining one of Paylor's squads"

The expression on her face turns sorrowful. "You want to fight that guy who tried to kill Katniss?"

I nod "Yeah, he almost took her from me, from the world."

She bites her lip and I can see tears starting to surface. "You really do love her huh" She slips her hand out of mine and starts walking away from me. Shit I have gone and hurt her again. Why do I have to be so bad with words, why can't I be like Mellark and smooth talk everyone. Thats how that little shit gets everything he wants. He talks his way into things. He talked his way into Katniss's life and bed. crap, there goes my jealousy again. I had to stop being so jealous of him.

Delly was far down the beach, I bolted after her and grab hold of her elbow, making her stop dead in her tracks. There were tears in her eyes and I immediately hated myself for hurting her again.

"That's not what I meant"

"Sounded like it" She says weakly.

"Just stop Delly, you know I'm over it" We were constantly fighting and I was sick of it.

"Are you over her?"

"Yes"

"I don't think you are"

We were both silent, the sound of waves echoed around us. They were growing, crashing against the shoreline with such force. Delly's blonde hair blew in the wind. I take her face between my hands and look deep into her eyes.

"I love you" I say in almost a whisper. My heart pounded in my chest as her eyes grew wide.

"What did you just say to me?" She asks as if her ears were deceiving her.

"I said I love you" and I do, I've fallen in love with her, more and more over the past couple of months. I wouldn't say something like that If I didn't mean it. I've been dying to tell her that for couple of weeks now, but never found the courage to do so. I hunched over and captured her lips in a searing kiss. I really hated that she was this short. Our height difference really was somewhat of a problem.

"I love you" I say again between our lips. It felt really good to say it out. "I love you and its all your damn fault" She saw goodness in me, believed in me when nobody else did. She set my ass straight, pulled me out of my self pity. I never thought I'd love anyone other than Katniss, but obviously I was wrong. I thought I'd be alone for the rest of my life because my other half (Katniss) found someone else. Katniss was never my other half, she'd always been Peeta's other half. I deepened our kiss, the wind was getting stronger and the waves were up to our feet now. I felt her jump as the cold water engulfed her feet.

"It's freezing" She says as our lips parted.

I give her a devious smile and scoop her up into my arms. "Gale No" I carry her down the beach and stop at the edge on the water. I wasn't really going to throw her into it, just tease her a bit. She squeaked as I pretended to throw her in. After a couple fake attempts I set her on her feet which was a mistake because she bumps hips with me, completely catching me off guard. I tripped over my own feet and went face first into an approaching wave. I got a face full of water and sand. I looked up at Delly who had her hand over her mouth and a smile plastered on her lips. I scrambled to my feet and caught her around the waist, hoisting her up into my arms as she tried to dart away from me. I waded through the cold ocean water and dropped her in once the water was up to my waist. She lets out a scream as the water engulfed her body. Her clothes were soaked, her blonde hair now had a dark color to it.

"That was mean Gale" She giggled " And I can't swim that well"

I grabbed hold of her and waded deeper into the water. The deeper I went the harder her grip on me became. The water was now up to my chest and I could barely touch the ground.

"Gale I can't swim well" She says her voice raised in a slight panic.

"I'm not gonna let you drown babe" I say and kiss her.

"Alright I trust you" She says.

"Wrap you legs around my waist and hold on tight" She did as I asked and I began to move us gently through the water. I didn't go that much deeper, just deep enough so neither of us could touch.

"Let go of me" I whisper into her ear, giving it a small kiss.

"I can't swim" She says again.

"You Trust me?"

"Yes"

"Then let go."

She unravels her legs from around my waist, but her hands are still around my neck. I kiss her deeply and move her hands away from my neck. she doesn't panic just floats there.

"Swim back to shore with me." I grab hold of her hand so I have something to hold onto in case she starts sinking. "Mock me, do what I do"

I kick my hands and legs and she does the same. We eventually make it to shore. She didn't do to bad for someone would is not able to swim. The cold air makes us both shiver. I wrap my arms around her and we bolt for the cab. Once we reach the cab, the driver looks at us as if we are crazy, its only spring, the weather outside is far from warm. He shakes his head and gets us both two small towels from the trunk.

"Ring out or your not getting in my vehicle" He says.

I ring out my shirt and sweatpants, Delly is shivering so I give her both towels and my jacket that I had left in the car, finally we are halfway decent and the cab driver allows us to enter his vehicle. He drives us to the star capitol inn and we pay him. Our room in on the top floor of the hotel building, Katniss and Peeta's room is on the second floor. They should be in their room right now, but something is telling me not to go in there at the moment. I open the door to room 44b and flicker on the lights. Delly shuts the door behind us.

"Go ahead and take a shower first" I tell her.

She's silent.

"Delly?" I turn around and she is right there inches away from me. She stands on her tiptoes and attempts to reach my lips, I meet her halfway and give her a kiss. She runs her hands through my soaked her, then moves them so they are flat against my chest. Her fingers fiddle with the buttons on my shirt and I feel her unbutton them one by one. Finally her bare hands meet my bare scarred back. my soaking wet shirt is pushed off my shoulders and thats when I finally break the kiss and stare at her.

"Delly? I-I don't expect you to...you know"

"Shh" She places her finger against my lips, "I want to, I love you"

"If you can't handle it"

"Kiss me"

I leaned down and capture her lips in a hot kiss. I scoop her up into my arms and gently carry her over to the bed in the middle of the room. I set her down on it and bring her wet shirt up over her head. my eyes travel to the scar of her stomach and I leaned down to kiss it.

(Delly's POV)

My heart is pounding a million miles per minute. Gale is placing kisses against the scar my step-father gave me. I still remember it like it was yesterday I hit him so hard in the face for touching me. Samuel was furious with me for denying him so he threw me against the wall, slapped me so hard in the mouth and head that I saw stars. As I lay there seeing stars I remember hearing the soft clicking sound of his switchblade and then before I knew it he was straddling me, using the switchblade to cut away my shirt. He cut away my bra and threw it halfway across the room, then started grabbing my chest. I remember crying and thrashing against him. I had lifted up my leg and hit him between his. He yelled slapped me, took he knife and carved up my stomach with it. I exited reality, hands were on my shoulder, its was his hands, my step-father. Samuel. Samuels hands went from my shoulders and buried themselves into my hair. He kissed me, something he never, ever does. His hands moved away from my hair and down towards my pants.

"Stop" I cry out. Then I flash back into reality and Gale is the one on top of me. He freezes immediately and looks down at me.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

"No" My breathing was speeding up and sweat poured from my face. "I'm sorry Gale" I just can't give it to him. He rolls off of me and gathers me into his strong arms. I lay my head on his chest and let the tears flow.

"It's alright, don't do anything that makes you uncomfortable" He says.

He kiss the top of my head and it's not long before both of us fall into a deep sleep.

To be continued...


	20. Preparation

I'm really sorry its taking me awhile I'm trying just please be patient. So will I be able to hit 400 reviews? That would be amazing, it would be the most reviews I had ever gotten. I love and cherish each one of your thoughts and opinions on my stories so keep them coming, this chapter has a bit of sexuality in it but nothing to bad, I don't want the pricks taking it down for a lot of smut because them taking down my story equals me deleting my account if I can. Well anyway enough of that please enjoy the chapter and lets see if I can hit 400 :). Ps. There is a new story on my profile, it only has one chapter in it, its kind of a side project, anyway it's Haymitch's story, he is 15/16 in the story and is about to be reaped. The story is about him and what he goes through so please check it out. I might add more to chapter one though I hate the length. Okay I'll shut up now please read and review the chapter.

Chapter 20

Preparation

(Katniss POV)

The sound of thunder and the flash of lightening light up the sky, but I pay very little attention to the vicious storm ragging outside. Usually the sound of thunder frightened me, reminds me of the large boom of the cannons that use to signal a tributes death. I would curl up into a ball in the closet and smash my hands against my ears, hoping to drown out the sounds that would trigger one of my gruesome memories, but now I could care less about mother nature taking its toll on the earth. Storms were normal, they were not capitol-made, in a way it was all sort of beautiful. The colors that would flash in the sky were beautiful only if they did last a couple of seconds, it was amazing how the rain provided the animals and plants with water and life. I guess in a way the sound of thunder was natures way of telling you that it was here and it was ready to take care of the life that inhabits the earth. I had to open my eyes and see that storms are beautiful and peaceful.

My breathing is heavy and deep, sweat dripped from my forehead and loud moans escape the back of my throat. I dragged my fingernails across his shoulders,down his back and around his neck. He was going a steady peace, not too fast. not too slow; just right. Ours lips connected with each others, my hands moved from his shoulders and I grasp his blond locks earning a grunt from him. What started out as an innocent massaging session quickly turned hot and heavy on both ends. Luckily their was nobody in the hotel room to hear us, thunder alone was not enough to drown out my big mouth. I was just glad Haymitch and Effie were not here to hear this because I definitely would get a large lecture from the both of them which angered me because Peeta and I knew what we were doing. We knew how to prevent from having a baby, he was wearing protection as we speak and plus I was taking a birth control pill that seems to be working wonders. He knew I didn't want a baby, that I changed my mind about having one. I didn't want one... ever. What would happen when Wadera dies, when I send an arrow through his heart? Who's going to be next? What evil, horrible human being will want the peace gone. The thoughts in my head were getting the better of me and I realized Peeta was starting to slow down.

"Don't slow down" I groaned.

"Are you alright?" He asked coming to a complete stop.

"Yeah" I lied, the truth was I was not looking forward to tomorrow. Rend was going to make my training life a living hell, but he was right I haven't been in a combat situation for over five years and it was about time I come out of retirement and become the girl on fire again.

"Your distracted" Peeta points out.

"No I'm not" I say and attempt to connect our lips but he rolls off of me completely, wrapping a sheet around his waist. "I didn't finish" I frowned.

"I want to know what's bothering you"

I sigh in frustration there was no hiding my thoughts and feelings from him. He knew me inside and out, he can always tell when there was something bothering me. Right now I was a tab bit angry at him for stopping before either of us could finish.

"I'm angry" I blurt out.

Peeta chuckles and runs his hand through his blond hair. "Why are you angry?" He questions.

"Because we didn't finish" I sneered.

"There is something bothering you and I want to know what it is" He says.

"What makes you believe there is something wrong with me?"

"Because when we make love like this you always manage to keep up with me, your grip never loosens and you never shut your eyes or take them off of me and thats what you did, slowed down, your hands fell to your side and you took your eyes off of me. Now tell me Whats wrong?"

"Everything is wrong, Peeta. The world, the people, everything"

"Talk to me. I can help."

"I don't think I can do this again" I let a sob escape from the back of my throat.

"We'll kill him before a war starts" He assures me.

"That's just it Peeta How do you know he won't start something? That he hasn't started something already"

"I don't know what will happen, but whatever does happen I will protect you no matter what."

I leaned over to kiss him, the kiss lingers and eventually he was back on top of me, running his hands through my hair. Our lips disconnected and I look into his eyes and graze the side of his perfect face. "What if I told you I don't want you getting involved."

"I'd say your crazy" He kisses me for a couple of minutes. I gasp as he violates me. "I want you to relax and focus on me. Nothing else matters except me understood"

"I love you" I say and connect our lips. Peeta starts up again and thoughts about Wadera, the war and death are pushed from my mind. All that mattered was my soon to be husband, on top of me, making love to me. "Don't ever leave me Peeta. Don't ever go" I pant ands rake my nails down his back again.

"I promise" He gasps.

* * *

><p>I wake up the next morning, my legs feel like jelly, my body is tired and worn down from yesterday. Peeta and I made love through most of the night and my body was feeling the fatigue which wasn't a good thing considering I had a training session with my all so favorite commander Rend. I just knew he was going to make it hell for me. I climb out of bed, bringing the sheet around my body to cover it from the cool air that was seeping through our windows. I glanced over my shoulder and examined Peeta's sleeping form. His back was towards me and I could see the long thin nail scratches that covered his back and shoulders. There were three lines parallel to each other. I smiled to myself as images of last night filled my head. He was amazing, completely wonderful. I opened the door and peered down the hall, not a soul stirred. I let the sheet drop from around my body and made my way into the bathroom unnoticed.<p>

The cool water felt good against my tired skin. I washed my hair and smiled to myself as I examined the large amount of marks left on my body. He left plenty of hickeys and light nail marks that were going down my sides. The water ran down my bare skin and I leaned up against the wall and allowed it to spray my entire body. The shower door opened and I immediately covered my body with my hands. I should of known better. Peeta was the only person to intrude when I was taking a shower.

"Good morning" He greets and steps into the shower with me.

"Morning" I reply with a sleepy yawn.

"Sleep well?"

I nod. "Yes"

He wraps his arms around my torso and uses his hands to graze my bare flat stomach. I love the feeling of his hands on me. I turn around so both our bare chest our touching, I grab his head and drive him into a deep passionate, warm kiss. The kiss turns hot and he quickly pins me against the shower wall, but before things could get to hot and heavy the door opens again and a tired Haymitch stumbles into the bathroom, He's a little tipsy and hasn't even notice the sound of running water until it was too late. I scream as he catches sight of my naked body through the clear glass door. Peeta stands in front of me, blocking me from Haymitch's view. Why is he always walking in on us. I swear he is doing it on purpose.

"Damn rabbits" He mumbles and slams the door behind him.

Peeta skin turns pink and my face turns red. We looked at each other and start washing up in silence. We stepped out of the shower moments later. The passion that was brewing between us died down. We got dressed and entered the living room part of the hotel. Effie was there dressed in her very best, flipping through a capitol magazine. Haymitch was pouring himself what looked like coffee, but I just knew it was spiked. When he caught sight of us he rolled his eyes, set the spiked coffee down on the table and stalked off towards the bathroom to do his business.

Peeta pulled a chair out for me and I took a seat in it. He rummage through the kitchen, hoping to find something decent to cook. I was honestly not that hungry. I was more nervous than hungry. Scare of what Rend was going to do to me today. I watched Peeta pull out pancake mix and begin stirring. I loved his concentration, they way his brow dipped down, his tongue stuck out to the side. I found it all very amusing and hot how seriously Peeta takes baking. I watch him grab the pan from the cabinet and put it on the stove, covering it in butter. He then poured the batter on the scolding hot pan and allowed the pancakes to bubble. Peeta makes breakfast, Effie reads the paper, Haymitch returns and starts drinking his spiked coffee again and I sit back and fret about Rend. Peeta places a plate of hot delicious looking pancakes in front of me and I take my time in devouring each one, enjoying the heavenly taste of the bread.

A knock on the door causes me to freeze, Effie gets up from the couch and opens the door. I relax when I meet Gale's gray eyes. He walks in with Delly trailing behind him. Thank god it wasn't the escort here to bring us to the training room center. I was dreading going back there. It's been years and memories are most likely to resurface. I took one last bite of pancake and threw the rest in the garbage can. Delly comes over a flashes me a fake smile before sitting down at the table. She has a look to her that isn't right, something is very wrong with her and I can't quite put my finger on what it is.

"Morning Catnip are you ready for training?" Gale asks me.

I shake my head. "No"

"Catnip what if I told you I was thinking about joining a squad to help fight Wadera and these peacekeepers?" Gale's eye broke contact with mine and he looks over at Delly who was staring at the pancakes Peeta had just put in front of her.

"I'd say your stupid for trying to join" I tell him honestly and he looks up at me offended by my words.

"Really Catnip?"

"Yes really I don't want anyone involved in this. Wadera could use you against me Gale, he has you, Peeta and Delly to use against me and I will not allow it. He has already stabbed Hass and its all my fault." Delly gasp and places a hand over her mouth.

"Is he alright?" She asks in concern.

"The hospital says he was awake and talking, I have yet to see him. I was going to go yesterday, but uh I uh got a little distracted, so I figured I'd go after Rend in done pounding me into the dirt."

"Oh he's not that bad" Gale smirks.

"How would you know?"

"Uh whose friends with Johanna Mason." Gale smiles.

"You still talk to her? How is she?"

"Fine, better than the last time you saw her. She actually joined Paylor's defense team after the war ended instead of going back to district 7. She actually has been living here, her and commander Rend are somewhat involved." My mouth dropped to the ground, really? Johanna Mason and Commander Rend were a couple. I started wondering if I would get a chance to see her today, Would she be at the training station with her so called boyfriend.

"Really commander Rend and Johanna Mason?" I cackled like a monkey.

"The two of them have attitudes, their perfect" Gale says.

We all sat down at the breakfast and enjoyed Peeta's pancakes that he was whipping out. He had added blue berries to a batch of them and everyone went crazy. Delly excused herself from the table and patted across the room until she reached the balcony door, she slid the door open and slipped out of the room unnoticed. Well actually I was the only one that noticed she slipped away. Something was seriously bothering her and I wanted to know what it was so I could help her. I rose from my chair and followed her. The only person to see me leave was Peeta. Gale was chatting with Haymitch and Effie about something I didn't care about, it sounded like capitol food types. Who knows. I slid the sliding glass door open and stepped out onto the balcony, startling Delly in the process.

"Are you alright Delly?" I ask her.

"There are so many things going through mind right now. I can't think"

"You can talk to me" I tell her and take a seat on the bench beside her.

"Last night when you were visiting the president to tell them about Annie, Gale and I decided to kill time by going to the beach on the outskirts of the capitol. It was beautiful out there the breeze, the ocean air, absolutely amazing. Gale and I argued a bit and then he said something that I'm not sure he meant..." Her voice trails off and she looks down at her hands, she clutches them into fists and she shuts her eyes, it was almost like she was reliving whatever memory she was thinking of.

"I'll beat the hell out of him if he hurt you and so will Peeta"

Delly shakes her head. "Please don't do that"

"What did he say to you" I was determined to find out.

"He told me he loved me Katniss and then he kissed me. I don't know if he meant it or if it was just the right thing to say. I just...I know how he feels about you and feeling like that just don't vanish over night. He knows he has to move on, but I'm not sure he can. I am so lost I don't know what to do"

Gale was like me in a way, he would not say something like that unless he truly felt that way. He is so damn difficult to read. He never used to be like that until after the war. I just can't see him saying that to her and it all be a lie. Oh how I wanted to interrogate him, get the truth as to how he feels about Delly. Gale is my best friend I should be able to read him like a book, but all that time he spent in 2 changed him.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" I ask.

"No I just don't know what to do thats all. There is something else too"

"Hmm?"

"I almost had sex with him last night" She mumbles and my mouth drops. Delly and Gale almost had sex, wow that was a real shocker.

"Del if hes right for you then you will know. You won't have to question it, you'll feel it when he touches you, kisses you, you'll know. Your heart will pound loudly when you find the right guy and butterflies will fill your stomach every time hes around. You'll never want to be away from him and he will be all you think about, You'll never be able to get him out of your head."

"Is that how you feel about Peeta?"

"Yes, every time he kisses me it feels like I can take on the entire world. Every touch sends shivers through my body and when we have sex its like nothing else matters in the world except the two of us. You'll find someone that makes you feel that way"

"He doesn't make me feel that way, But I have so many feelings for him I can't organize them all" She says sadly.

"Then he's not for you, don't be with him if your not willing to try and fall in love with him. I never felt that way about Peeta until I really got to know him and then well look at me. I'm like a puppy in heat. Haymitch called us damn rabbits this morning." I giggle.

Delly puts a hand over her mouth trying too suppress a laugh. "He did not walk in on you did he?"

I nod, "Yup we were in the shower together, but actually thats not the first time Haymitch has walked in on us. He walked in on us having sex on the couch, caught full view of Peeta's rear-end. Stark naked and everything. I swear I have never screamed so loudly in my life."

"Oh my god" Delly giggles.

" Yeah pretty embarrassing huh?"

"I'd die if that was me. Oh course I never really want to have sex not after..." her voice trails off.

"Its okay I know your delicate when it comes to that topic. Peeta told me some stuff but he never really told me what your step-father did to you"

"He raped me" She mumbles and I feel myself turn red with anger. How could someone do that to this innocent kind-hearted girl.

"Delly I am so sorry" I tell her and place a hand against her shoulder.

"Don't be sorry it was a long time ago and I guess I need to get over it." But how do you get over a tragedy like that. I was almost raped by York and memories of his hands on my chest still flash into my mind once in awhile. That happened over a month ago. I don't think I'd ever get over it if York had went all the way. There was only one man I wanted to have sex with and that was Peeta. The thought of someone else trying to do those things to me, scares me. Poor Delly, she didn't have a choice, he forced himself on her. How was a person supposed to heal from that.

"Thank you Katniss for listening to me whine and moan" Delly laughs.

"You can always talk to me, I'm here for you Del. One more thing don't give up on Gale. I know he's an asshole and a prick, but if he told you he loved you then I'm 99% sure that he meant it" I lean over and give her a quick hug, before hopping to my feet. I stretched my arms and padded back into the living room. Everyone was done eating their breakfast. Peeta sat side by side with Effie and Haymitch on the couch watching the Capitol news and Gale just stood there leaning against the wall, giving me an awkward look. I stuck my tongue out at him playfully and wandered over to the couch. I pressed my body against the back of the leather couch and ran my hands through Peeta's blond hair. Something on the news had caught all three of their eyes. I tuned into the program. They were talking about Wadera and as soon as I heard his name. I tightened my hold on Peeta's hair a little too hard.

"Ouch Kat" He groaned.

"Sorry" I said and kissed he top of his head. My eyes bored into the picture of Wadera, they had on the screen. It was like he was grinning at me, peering deep into my soul. It was like he was telling me he was going to kill me. I could still feel his hands being wrapped around my neck, can still feel his weight as he pinned me to the ground, choking the life out of me. Just thinking about him made me sick and the sudden urge to heave overtook my body. I bolted from the living room and made my way to the toilet where I barfed up Peeta's pancakes. The more I thought about Wadera the more I threw up. Peeta held back my hair as I vomited up my entire breakfast. I flushed the contents down the toilet and rest my cheek against the toilet seat. Peeta picked me up and cradled me against his chest.

"He makes me sick" I say.

"I know I shouldn't of had that on, I'm sorry" He apologizes.

"Not your fault" I say and brush the taste of vomit out of my mouth. The door to the bathroom creaks open and Gale pops his large head in.

"Is she alright Mellark?"

"Breakfast didn't agree with her" Peeta tells him.

"Alright the escort is here time for training." Gale says

Gale leaves and I continue to rest my head against Peeta's strong chest. My head is pounding and when I try to stand it hits me again and I lean over and heave the rest of my breakfast into the toilet. Peeta rubs my back as I puke. Thoughts of Wadera's hands around my neck is what is making me sick. When I"m done I lay my head against Peeta's chest again and close my eyes. The room is spinning and I want it to stop.

"You can't go like this" Peeta says scooping me up into his strong arms.

"I'm fine."

"I really think you should wait it out."

"Peeta I'm fine really. It was just your breakfast and the thoughts of that disgusting slim ball. I'm alright."

Peeta smiles "So my pancakes were no good?"

"Oh they were delicious going down, but when I saw that...thing on TV it just...I just needed to heave."

"If your sure Kat, but please don't ever makes yourself sick." He kisses me on the forehead and then goes for the lips, but I back off not wanting him to kiss my lips and taste vomit on them.

"Peeta don't" I say dodging his lips completely.

"What I can kiss you, You are my finacee after all."

A big smile spreads across my face and before I know it my lips are crashing against his. I'm driving him into a deep passionate kiss. Screw it I don't care if I just threw up; He just called me his finacee, something he hasn't called me in a very long time. I almost forgot I was wearing the ring he gave me. The last time I took it off was when we were standing at the train station. I threw it at him because he was leaving me and it hurt so much, but that was in our past and now here we were, fighting for peace again, looking for a cure (which we haven't been really doing that) and I was going to make Peeta marry me soon. Our lips part and a puckering sound fills the air as they do. I look into his eyes and graze the side of his perfect face.

"Eww" He suddenly says, his expression is serious, "Your breath is horrible."

"What!" I shout in panic and turn around in embarrassment. "I told you not to kiss me"

"I didn't you kissed me"

"Peeta" I pouted.

Then suddenly he is laughing his head off. I turn around, cheeks red, irritation filling my body. "You should of seen the look on your face. You thought I was seriously grossed out." He laughs harder and I slap him on the shoulder, he flinches a little but keeps laughing. I almost forgot about his bullet wound and how careful I should be. It's healing, its not as red as it used to be. Every time I look at it I see Wadera aiming a gun at me, Peeta pushing me to the ground to receive that bullet. I guess it still hurts him if a large amount of pressure is put on the wound.

"That wasn't funny, my breath really does smell bad because of the vomit"

"I could never get grossed out when kissing you." He smiles and leans over for another kiss, but I turned my head playfully, letting my long dark hair cover the left side of my face.

"Are you rejecting me Miss. Everdeen?" He asks playfully.

"What if I am Mr. Mellark?"

"I might have to punish you then" He seductively whispers in my ear. His hands wander down to the waistband of my pants, but before he could inch them down I place a hand on his chest and force him to back up a couple of inches.

"No time for sex Mr. Mellark, but I can do other things real quick" I run my hand against the large muscles of his chest, then let my hand travel downward. When it finally reaches it destination Peeta's face is an unhealthy red color. He looks at me, breathing getting heavy as my hand moves.

"K-Kat-Katniss, Shit" He curses and I look at him shocked. He covers his mouth with a hand and we both start laughing again, He never swears, never. My hand continues its work and Peeta grunts and groans, biting his lips in order to keep quiet. Finally my hand finishes its work and Peeta gives one final grunt. When he opens his blue eyes he gives me a scolding look, but I merely smile at him and proceed in washing my hands.

"That was...Different" He mutters.

"Did you like it?"

"Most definitely." He admits.

I turn my back to the sink and stepped forward. I put up my index finger and wiggled it back and fourth, it was an indication that I wanted Peeta to come here. He obeyed and pressed his body against mine. I placed my lips against his ear and nibbled on it a bit.

"You should have roughed me up last night, you think that feels good, being rough feels better."

"Katniss, please behave yourself"

"No, What if I don't want too. What if I want to be dirty once in awhile?"

"I don't want our lovemaking to be dirty or rough. I want it to be smooth and passionate"

"But that gets boring after awhile doesn't it?"

Peeta sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He kisses me on the forehead "Finish up they're waiting for us" He leans down to kiss me once more before exiting the bathroom in two swift movements. I just don't understand him. What kind of man doesn't like it rough. Oh well Peeta will be Peeta, I love him anyway. I braid my hair, change into comfortable pants and a baggy t-shirt and padded my way into the living room where a man no more than 25 years old stands there with his hands folded, legs crossed. He was sitting on the leather couch waiting patently for me to come out of the bathroom, dressed and ready for a day of training. As soon as he sees me, he rises from his sitting position and straightens the expensive suit he has on.

"Are you ready Miss Everdeen?" He questions in a formal tone of voice.

"Yes" I answer with a nod.

"And you Mr. Mellark?"

Peeta nods his head as well and as he does anger fills my body. I told him I didn't want him joining a defense squad and what does he do?He joins one. He is my number one weakness and Wadera knows it and I'm sure he was going to do everything in his power to break me. The man turns his attention to Gale, who was quietly leaned up against the living room wall, Delly and him seemed to be having a staring contest with each other.

"Mr. Hawthorne?"

Gale nods.

He joined too, oh this just keeps getting better and better, now that asshole has two people I care about and either one of them could get hit at any time. We are rushed out of the building, Gale didn't even get a chance to say good bye to Delly And I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Haymitch or Effie. He ushers us in the backseat of the car and I'm sandwiched in between Gale and Peeta. Its so awkward being this close to Gale, after everything we've been through. I quickly slide my hand into Peetas and lace our fingers together. Gale sees this action and stares out the window at the capitol as if zooms by.

"Peeta" I say his name softly.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you join?" There is a seriousness in my voice and Peeta's light smile he had on his face fades.

"You know why I joined. To protect you."

"Your one more thing he can use against me. And you" I turned to Gale "There is a few things I'd like to say to you. A few questions I need to ask you."

Gale snorts. "What are you interrogating me now. There are many reasons why I joined the squad and your one of them. I want to protect my best friend, but thats not the main reason as to why I joined."

"I don't give a shit as to why you joined. I want to know what game your playing with Delly" I blurt out before I could stop it. This catches Peeta's attention and he stares hatefully at Gale. Delly is Peeta's best friend and he would do anything for her, he cares about her, just not in the way he cares about me, but Delly is up there on the family list and Peeta takes care of his family.

"Jealous?" He asks sarcastically.

"No I'm not jealous I don't care who you see." I say.

"Okay end of discussion, my personal life is none of your business so stay out of it"

"Don't talk to her like that" Peeta cuts in and all I can think was this is going to be world war 30 and its my fault. Gale and Peeta stare at each other and once again I am caught in the middle of it as always. "Delly happens to be my best friend Hawthorne."

"Yeah? Well Katniss is my best friend."

"All I'm going to say is you hurt her and I'll hurt you"

"Look Mellark, I'm not going to hurt her okay, I..."He bites his lip and stares out the window again. "I care about her okay. I don't want her to hurt, She's been hurt enough"

Peeta remains silent for a minute, then snorts out, "I hate seeing her with you, Hawthorne. My best friend deserve much better"

"Peeta, thats not..." I start but Gale has a come back.

"Thanks for that wonderful, inspiring news Mellark, but I hate to break it to you I'm not leaving her"

"Not until you find someone else to kiss huh?"

"Peeta stop it" I scold him, I can't believe he is behaving like this, did Gale and Delly's relationship bother him that much? I guess so since this is how he is reacting to it.

"You don't know shit Mellark"

"I know more than you know, tell me Gale how did you convince Delly to go out with you hmm? Money? No Delly's not that desperate." I can see Gale's clutched fist and I only hope he doesn't lean over me and punch Peeta in the face. Of course I won't stop him because Peeta is being an asshole right now and I can't believe some of the words that were spewing from his mouth "It's not like that okay so fucking drop it" Gale spat, He was getting mad.

"What's it like then, Can't have Katniss, so Del is the rebound."

"Shut up Mellark ITS NOT LIKE THAT"

"Then what's it like" Peeta poked and pried and Gale was ready to blow, "Come on I don't got all day."

"I'M IN LOVE WITH HER" Gale shouts.

This silences both Peeta and I, So it's true what Delly told me earlier about Gale telling her he was in love with her. It was all true because Gale just admitted it right here and now. It was something serious to say and he was like me in a way. He would not say something that serious unless he meant it. Nothing else was said, but there was a strong tension that filled the car. You could take a knife and cut through it thats how thick it was. Once the car stopped, Gale opened the door quickly, slamming it hard behind him. I shot Peeta a dirty look and climbed out of the car. The build was huge and I mea HUGE, it had to be at least five stories. This was the training center? I remember it being a lot smaller than this, but no matter. I was ready to enter the building and face the ghosts of forgotten tributes.

To Be continued...


	21. Tour and Recovery

Question: Should Gale come face to face with Delly's step-father? I know what I'm going to write either way I'm just curious as to what you guys think about it. This has to be my longest chapter yet, I really sort of love this chapter. I could stop adding things to it, I had to stop though and save things for the next one hah.

Chapter 21

Tour and Recovery

(Peeta's POV)

The escort led us to the top floor of the building , the entire fifth floor held apartment rooms of some sort. I began to wonder if these people actually expected us to stay here instead of the hotel room we had been staying in. It would be nice, not having to pay an arm and a leg for that room. The escort led us down the long hall, on the walls were multiple paintings and decorations. This place was incredibly classy. I stumbled behind, taking a moment to examine the beautiful artwork that was a woman holding onto a baby and staring out her bedroom window, looking deep into the oceans soul. In a way it kind of reminded me of something Annie would do. Although the woman in the picture did not resemble Annie at all. I sighed remembering how stressed out Katniss was over this whole Wadera threatening Annie thing. I wanted to comfort her so badly, but then I remembered she was really angry at me for starting with Gale while we were in the car. I couldn't help it though. I hated the fact that Gale Hawthorne was seeing my best friend. Delly was like my family, we have known each other since we were basically in diapers. I protect her like I would my brothers. Although in my family I was the youngest so my brothers usually protected me from harm. They chased away bullies during school, threatened to beat up anyone who tried to cause me pain. Bartzane and Vexen were really one of a kind and I really miss them.

The escort finally stopped to stare at the three of us. There were two rooms that were side by side to each other. One for us and one for Gale I suppose. He handed both of us keys and that was that, he went on his way without a word to either one of us.

"Thank you!" I shouted down the hallway after him.

He stopped briefly, nodded his head and picked up his pace again. He was out of sight before I knew it. Katniss held up the room key which had the numbers 5b engraved on it. She stuck the key in the keyhole and twisted. Gale did the same thing, but before he could enter his room I grabbed hold of his elbow lightly and pulled him out into the hallway. Katniss looked at us curiously, shrugged her shoulders and then disappeared into the room.

"I"m sorry" I apologized to Gale.

He snorted. "Apology not accepted Mellark." He rubbed his temples in frustration and put a hand on his hip. "You actually think I'm that low? That I use a poor girl just to get over Katniss?"

"To tell you the god honest truth. Yeah you would" I reply honestly.

Gale snickered. "That would be my answer,I know I'm a horrible person and that this is something people would expect me to do, but honestly your friend made me fall for her and bad. At first it was just to get over Katniss. I'd give her short,sweet kisses. Then when Katniss left to find you...Something just happened between us, from the night she told me She'd give us a try up until now I've felt something I have never felt before. Something Katniss could never make me feel."

"She's been through hell Gale, not the kind of hell Kat and I been through. Did she tell you anything?" I question.

He nods. "Her step-father hurt her."

"He did more than hurt her, He..." Gale cut me off.

"I know he fucking raped her" He yelled. "And if I ever get to meet the trash that did that to her, I'll be sure to make them pay."

"You might end up meeting him one day and when that day comes I'll be right there with you pounding the hell out of him. They never threw him in jail for it. The peacekeepers didn't care about some girl getting raped from district 12. All they did was give Del a right to a restraining order which I think is a horrible half ass punishment for Samuel."

"Karma is a bitch Mellark and that asshole has it coming" With that he stuck his key into the door and pushed the heavy door open, he turned to me, shot me a hateful glare and said. "I still don't accept your apology." He said and slammed the door hard in my face. It was understandable that he didn't want to accept my apologies, what I said in the car was extremely rude and so unlike me. I don't know where all this anger came from, but it was certainly not me. Maybe it was the other guy that lingers deep in my soul The other guy that has managed to remain dormant. I haven't had an episode in so long I almost forgot that a cure was the reason for me being here. I still had to find a cure for my hijacking, but things with Wadera have been so bad I had to set that task aside and focus on protecting Katniss.

I was doing good in controlling it, Haymitch said it was my emotions that triggered the hijacking. High emotions to be exact that was why I had to deny Katniss rough lovemaking. The rougher it is the more emotion I feel and its hard enough not to flash back while we are in the middle of doing it. If I think about her a certain way memories would flood my mind, memories I have no control over. Their either real or their not I can never tell.

I entered the room and it took my breath away. Although it was nowhere near as big as the room we were staying in, but it was pretty close. These were the same rooms Katniss and I stayed in during the Hunger Games. The training center apartment had not changed a bit. Their was still a large black couch in the middle of the room, followed by expensive artwork that I so humbly admired. There were two rooms in the back, one for me and one for her if she was still mad at me. I made my way into the kitchen area of the apartment and my eyes lit up at the small stove and fridge. I would be able to bake in here. I opened the fridge and frowned as I found absolutely nothing in the fridge. If I wanted to bake then I'd have to go into town and buy some materials. After I was done examining the room I entered the living room and found Katniss sitting on the couch with her feet tucked under her, she was wearing dark black pants and a thin blue tank-top. I on the other hand was wearing black pants and a black t-shirt.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked her.

"Did you apologize to him?" She answers with a question.

"I tried" I admit.

"Okay then I"m not mad" She says

"Really?"

"Yes really, now get over her and kiss me before I change my mind" There is playfulness in her voice. I smile, walk over to the back of the couch, lean over it and kiss her like she demanded. The kiss lingered for a couple of seconds before I pulled away.

"Love you" I whispered as our lips disconnected.

"Love you too" She smiled and kissed me again, She grabbed the front of my black t-shirt and connected our lips again. Katniss became greedy as she deepened this kiss, she disconnected our lips and laid down on the couch, our eyes connected and she held up her index finger and wiggled it back and fourth.

"Come here" She demanded and I obeyed and walked around the couch. Once I was in reaching distance she grabbed hold of my black t-shirt and pulled me down on top of her.I hovered over her, being careful not to crush her with all my weight. She weaved our hands together and kissed each one of my knuckles on my left hand. " Peeta Mellark how do you always manage to find a way into my bed?" She teases me.

"Just lucky I guess" I grin.

Her playfully expression suddenly turns serious, "Are you alright being here?"

"I won't lie to you. This place hold so many memories, but I promise you that I will not go rogue on you. I'm taking baby steps. I'll be alright."

"Peeta I can't loose you again. If something triggers one and you end up..." She bits her lip, "You can't leave me, If you hurt me or not."

"I won't hurt you" I promised her.

"I know you won't. Your so kind and so gentle, there isn't enough venom in the world that can take that away from you." I cannot describe as to how much I love this woman laying under me. I connect our lips again and drive her into a deep passionate kiss, but before things can get too hot or heavy on the couch, a loud knock causes me to pull away and roll off of her with a groan. She gets up from the couch and pads her way over to the apartment door, she flings it open and I hear an all to familiar voice of Johanna Mason flood my ears.

"Katniss fucking Everdeen" Johanna pulls her into a hug and kisses her on the forehead, then she moves into the room without being invite. She sees me and before I have a chance to escape she wraps her arms around me, kisses me on the forehead, hugs me tightly and then lets go. I turn around and thats when she gives me a large smack on the rear-end. "Nice ass Peeta"

"Really Johanna!" Katniss barks at her.

I didn't say anything to Johanna because I knew her gesture was meant to be playfully, she was in no way being serious about her flirtatious gestures. She just loved to tease Katniss, to get her going and right now it was working. We haven't seen Johanna in nearly five years and the first thing she tells me was I have a nice butt. Typical Johanna. She takes a seat on the couch and props her feet up on the glass coffee table.

"Well what do you think of the center?" She asks us.

"They added a lot to it huh?" I ask.

Johanna nods, "They sure did, it was Paylor's idea to train and house her defense team here. To tell you the truth this place is a lot better than the shit hole I was living in. The only problem is with this place is the...Memories" Johanna eyes and mine connect, we stare hard at each other and I knew what she was thinking. The torture that we both went through was still fresh in her mind. They'd beaten the shit out of her, they ripped her hair out from the roots, every day they'd take a patch of hair until there was barely any left. They'd break off her long fingernails, rip her clothes off so the could create cuts all over her bare body, but that was nothing compared to what they did to me. I never ever want Katniss to know what they did to me, because its sickening and I honestly don't know how I managed to survive the beatings. She had asked me about my torture the one day and I refused to tell her anything, Although she has no idea what they did to me, she can still feel the memories on my body. When we are naked and making love, her fingers would brush the small whipping scars on my back, the scars from the shocks on my chest, the blade cut that is barely visible on my forehead, the blade cuts on my shin and knuckles. I pushed the thoughts aside, not wanting to remember the horrific events that had taken place years ago.

" Are you here to show us around?" I ask Johanna.

"Actually no, rumor had it that the star-crossed lovers were seen being escorted to the top apartment floor and I just had to visit my old friends. I missed you guys" She says.

"Hey Jo, Whats on the other 4 floors? "Katniss questions.

Johanna smiles widely. "Well on the 1st floor you got the kitchen area, lobby, laundry room and so on, second floor is the training room, combat areas and showers, third floor is a swimming pool and more showers" Katniss and I both raise an eyebrow.

"Swimming pool? Really?" Katniss looks amused.

"Floor three and four are for entertainment purposes." Johanna explains.

"So where do we start?" I ask.

"Well...Someone is being sent over to get your belongings from the other hotel room. Once your things arrive then we you guys can meet commander Jillian Rend" Theres a deeps sigh in her voice, Katniss rolls her eyes and wraps her hands across her chest.

"Can't I join Commander Creft's squad?" Katniss asks.

"I thought you wanted Commander Rend" Johanna asks looking confused.

"I didn't chose" Katniss replies.

"But the paperwork clearly states that you signed up for Commander Rend's team. It can't be changed once the paperwork goes through" Johanna explains.

"Whatever" Katniss says rolling her eyes in disgust.

We spent a good half hour catching up with her, its been way to long since we have seen her and I don't know about Katniss, but I kinda of missed Johanna 's sense of humor, her carefree attitude and the way she lets people have it when they piss her off. I can't wait to see Johanna kick the dog snout out of people when we start training. She is ruthless when she fights and its almost scary to watch her pound the life out of people. She has left her fair share of marks on Katniss and I, more Katniss than me. She cut a tracker right out of Katniss's skin while we are were in the Quarter Quell.

Johanna finally leaves our room and ventures into the unknown, before leaving she tells the two of us that Commander Rend would probably want to show us around in an hour or so, so we were to be ready by then. This made Katniss very uneasy. She was standing by a very large glass window, staring into the streets below. She seemed so lost in thought, she has traveled so far into her mind that I only hope I can bring her back. I stand next to her and press a button on the flat metal panel that was next to the window, suddenly the streets below vanished and a bright yellow, sunny horizon flashed in our faces. They still had these holograms installed? I found them very interesting. How you can change the scene in the room from just a click of a button. Now instead of staring at the boring streets of the capitol, she was staring at a large, beautiful sunrise.

"Sorry Peeta I was zoning" She apologized and snapped back into reality.

"Are you okay?"

She nods, "I'm fine." and I can tell she is not being truthful with me, She cannot make eye contact with me when she is lying and right now she is no looking me in the eyes, she is looking at my forehead.

"Katniss" I say her name in a scolding, playful tone of voice.

"What?" She asked innocently.

"You really shouldn't lie to me" I smirk at her.

"I'm really not lying to you Mr. Mellark, just deep in thought is all, besides what are you going to do about my fibbing?" She is challenging me, I can tell by the tone of her voice.

"Well I just might have to punish you Miss. Everdeen." I wrapped my arms around her waist and locked my fingers together, preventing her from escaping my iron grip. She wrapped her hands around my neck and gave me an open-mouth kiss.

"Are you trying to seduce me Mr. Mellark?"

"I could, but I don't think its wise to have sex with Gale on the other side of the room, these walls are very thin you know"

"So let him listen" Katniss says eagerly.

"Thats' not polite." I chuckle.

"So, who says I'm polite." She kisses me again and moves one of her hands away from my neck. She grabs my area and I almost shout. I untangle myself from her and take a step back, there is no way in hell I'm going to take her right here with a floor full of people. Katniss is far from quiet when we make love and if we do it right here and now, not only will Gale hear, but the whole entire floor would hear and chances are we would never be able to live it down.

"Your incredibly loud Miss. Everdeen, I won't risk it."

"Chicken" She challenges me. I hate being called a chicken or a coward. I raise my brow up at her and shoot her a scolding, but playful look. She has a deviously grin on her face and begins backing up. She knows Whats coming next and so I do. I was going to prove to her that I was far from a chicken.

"Chicken huh?"

"Peeta Chicken Mellark" Katniss giggles.

Thats all it took, I lunged towards her and she bolts away from me into the other room. She is giggling and squealing like a madman. I catch her around the waist and scoop her up into my arms earning yet another squeal from her, I carry her to the back bedroom, stumbling the whole way there. She is giggling hard and once we hit the bedroom I throw her down on the fluffy mattress and straddle her waist. I pin her hands against the mattress as she attempts to grab the back of my head and drive me into a deep and passionate kiss. She lets out a whimper as I refuse to kiss her, I thread our fingers and give her a devious smile.

"And now Everdeen I'm going to show you how brave I am" I say before having my way with her.

(Katniss POV)

This place was way nicer than the fancy hotel room Haymitch, Peeta, Effie and I were staying at. I would rather stay here, in a place where I can retrain myself in self defense. I would have to train hard in order to kick Wadera's ass. My last two encounters with him nearly cost me my life, if it wasn't for Hass I would be dead. I had planned on going to see Hass after my tutorial of the place was done. Commander Rend will give me the big tour of the defense stations, the rec room, pool and whatever this place has in store for me, I would not start the hardcore training until everything was introduced. Tomorrow would probably be the day I'd start, which was fine by me, it gives me a chance to get familiar with everything. I pulled my naked body out of bed after another round of lovemaking, throwing my clothes back on I padded around the room examining every inch of it. The training apartments stayed the same, the new capitol just moved them to the top floor. I fiddled with the metal panel on the wall and flipped through multiple holograms until I found the one I was looking for. My forest. A large display of the forest appeared in the window and I felt a sudden urge to kick back and prop my feet up. I missed the safety of my forest, the peaceful feeling I'd get while I inhaled the fresh scent of pine and cool mountain air.

Peeta entered the room a couple minutes later dressed in a pair of sweatpants and loose t-shirt. He was I ready for training and I was not. What was Johanna's boyfriend going to do to me? What harsh lesson was he going to give me. Was I just being paranoid. He didn't really have it out for me did he and why would Rend hate me? I never did anything to him. Around noon a knock on the door caused goose bumps to appear on my arms. Peeta passes me, giving me a reassuring kiss as he heads for the door. He opens it and the dark eyes of the commander peer into his ocean blues. He pushes his way inside before Peeta even gives him permission to.

"I'm guessing you guys are settling in well?" Rend asks folding his hands behind his back.

"Yes we are, all we need now is our things" Peeta kindly replies to him.

"Ah of course someone will be ready to pick it up and drop it off, but in the meantime I'd like to start the tutorial, introduce you to the team and get a couple sparring matches in today and Miss. Everdeen, I hear your good with a bow and arrow."

I snicker without humor and rolls my eyes at him. He peers at me, his eyes boring hard into mine. "I'm not that good"

"She's amazing" Peeta said.

"Anyway Miss. Everdeen, there is a few things you must know before we set out on our tour. One I'm in charge of my squad and its members I say what goes got it"

"I guess" I mutter.

"I'm going to knock that attitude right out of you and Miss. Everdeen I want to make some changes to your sleep arrangements" He grins.

"What kind of arrangements?" I asked curiously.

Rend smiles, "I usually make my members sleep in separate rooms."

I wanted to punch him hard in the face for that one, there was no way in hell I was going to go to bed without Peeta. No way in gods green earth is this man going to separate me from Peeta or Peeta from me. It was start, Rend's torture was starting already and the first thing he took was the one thing that mattered most. Peeta. I look into Peeta's eyes and he bites his lip.I could tell he was holding the same anger back as I was.

"I won't do it, I won't leave her at night" Peeta mumbles.

"You don't have much of a say. I do" I want to kill him for doing this, why was he doing this. I take Peeta's hand into mine and give it a gentle squeeze. Why was Rend so determine to make my life hell. Sure I said ignorant things to him while in the hallway of the president mansion, but was that any reason to make me suffer like this.

"Why are you doing this to me? I know what I said to you in the mansion was wrong, I'm sorry okay sorry. Why are you so determine to make me suffer like this. " I couldn't help it, the words just spilled from my mouth.

Rend lets out a loud laugh that echoes the entire room. "My dear, sweet Everdeen I'm not out to get you. I"m out to make you a better person, I'm out to save you. I respect you, just because I threatened to make your training life miserably doesn't mean its personal. You two" He points between me and Peeta, "Are each others greatest weakness, Wadera will use you guys against each other. You need to learn to be without each other, learn how to function without each other."

"We're stronger together" Peeta blurts out.

Rend thinks for a moment and then a grin spreads across his face. "Then prove it. I can't wait to see you two in training. Hah, the star-crossed lovers come out of retirement. Feel free to roam around, I don't feel like giving you a grand tour now" Rend walks past the two of us, but stops to pat me on the head. He's out the door before I can say anything else. I look over at Peeta and shoot him a worried look. He chuckles and kisses me on the forehead.

Peeta and I spent an hour wandering around the building, we examined almost everything, The training room center had expanded a lot, they added sparring matt, fencing station and a boxing ring. The Gauntlet was still there, same as the rope station, the archery station (which was my best friend), they had weights, the survival station, the knot station, the snares and traps stations and so much more. The place was huge I couldn't believe my eyes. People filled the training room center. There were people on the sparring mats, the boxing ring. These people were training to become the capitol's main defense. I felt like I was in district 13 all over again. Peeta takes my hand and we move farther into the large room. We stop to watch two very large men sparring on one of the mats. I was happy that nobody had recognized Peeta and I as the star-crossed lovers.

"Hey its the mockingjay" One of the men in the boxing ring said to his opponent, it was funny because his opponents fist came crashing into his face and he fell flat on his back. The man rubbed his jaw and flipped to his feet, they leaned against the ropes to get a good look at Peeta and I. Peeta smiled and greeted them with a heartily hello, I on the other hand wanted no part in talking with complete strangers and having them call me Mockingjay sucked. I hated my nickname and wanted it to vanish from the world. Peeta spent a good amount of time talking with people, smiling, waving, answering questions. As more and more people began to realize who we were I suddenly felt uncomfortable. I let Peeta do all the talking since that was such a strong skill of his. We spent 40 minutes in the training room then decided to examine the incredibly large and fancy swimming pool. There wasn't too many people in the pool area, just a handful doing a couple laps, which I was grateful because I didn't want anyone else to see me. The people doing laps soon left without a word and now it was just Peeta and I.

"Well what do you think?" He asks referring to the training room center. It's different, a lot different than it used to be, it was like a whole new place, with whole new things, with whole new people, but they were still there. Clove, Cato, Marvel, Rue, Thresh, they were still there, covering every inch of the room. I can still feel them, I can still hear Cato yell at the tribute boy for taking his knife. Can still see Rue smiling from the ropes as she held the knife in her hands. I can see the careers smiling deviously at Peeta as he falls to the floor, they look at him like he's easy prey. Peeta throws the weight and the careers look impressed.

"Katniss?" I soon become aware of Peeta's large hand waving in front of my face. I was just staring out into space, thinking about all the fallen tributes that have trained in the upstairs room.

"I feel them" I mutter.

"Me too" Peeta says.

"They will always be here, watching" I say with unease.

"They are at peace now" Peeta assures me, "All of them."

"Not all of them Peeta. One seems to be getting revenge on me and he's using his family members to do it." I whisper quietly.

Peeta places his index finger against my lips, "Shh. Don't think about him" He replaces his finger with his lips and kisses me. Soon thoughts of the fallen tributes fade and all that matters is Peeta's warm lips pressed against mine. Our lips part and I look into his eyes and smile. I can always count on that beautiful smile of his to put me at ease. Peeta always knows how to comfort me. He knows how to make my troubles go away.

"Want to go for a swim?

Peeta shakes his head nervously. "Katniss I can't swim well."

"We can go in the shallow or we could get you some wings" I tease.

"Are you teasing me Miss. Everdeen"

"I am teasing you Mr. Mellark-chicken"

I knew by calling him chicken I'd get my own way. I stuck my tongue out at him and gave him a very seductive glare. Peeta can't hold back a laugh "You really like teasing don't you?"

"It's fun and easy to do with you" I grin.

Peeta moves and before I have time to figure out what he is doing, I'm in his arms and he is rushing me to the edge of the pool where he pretends to launch me into the cold water. I squeal and laugh as I hover over the water. When he puts me down we both end up in the water. I nudge him with my hip having every intentions of watching him fall face first in the cold water, which he does, but he wraps his strong arms around my waist and drags me in with him. We both topple face first in the pool. The water is shallow enough for him to touch so I'm not worried about him drowning. When we hit the surface we both take huge gulps of air, We're laughing, Peeta wads over towards me and splash me in the face. I swim towards him and lunge at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. I press my lips against his and drive him into a wet kiss.

"That was not nice Miss. Everdeen, We are not properly dress for a swim" Peeta playfully scolds.

"So" I giggle and kiss him again. "Are you complaining?"

"No I'm not complaining, I have a soak and wet you in my arms and you smell extremely good." He nuzzles his face in the crook of my neck and inhales deeply. I feel him smile against my neck and he begins to plant small kiss which makes me let out a deep sigh. A couple minutes later the both of us climb out of the pool and ring out our wet cloths. Peeta finds two towels on a large shelf near the wall. He wraps one around me and pecks me against the forehead before wrapping himself into it. We hike upstairs, water dripping behind us and I could of sworn we are receiving dirty looks from the staff as they focus on cleaning the water droplets we leave behind. We make it to our room, change and by the time we enter the large living room someone is knocking at the door. I sigh and hop up from the couch, flinging the door open I come face to face with a man in his mid-thirties, dark brown hair, green eyes, kind of chubby in a way. He was dressed in a suit and tie and held what seemed like very important documents in his one hand.

"Is this where I can find Peeta Mellark? Do I have the right room?"

"Yes" I replied suspiciously.

"I went to the star capitol Inn, but the man that smells like bourbon directed me here"

"Who are you?" I asked cutting right to the chase.

"Oh please forgive me for not introducing myself mockingjay" I was sick of people calling me that. Why can't they just call me Kat or Katniss, Hell I'll even take the name 'that girl' or maybe even bitch. Mockingjay reminded me of the horrors I went through in order to gain that title.

"Please call me Katniss" I begged him.

"My apologies. I'm Dr. Leo Bryce. Mr. Mellark called me some time ago, he stated that he needed help with flashes of some sort."

Jut then Peeta entered whistling an unfamiliar tune, He catches sight of the doctor and his whistling fades, his face turns serious and he stares at me with such a guilty expression. I wasn't going to be mad or irritated at me for calling a doctor. He did need help with his hijacking, thats the reason why he came to the capitol, to find a cure for his venom. We just got a little sidetrack, with everything that has happened with Wadera and the peacekeepers the cure was far from our first priority. I wanted nothing more than for him to get better, but I wanted nothing more than to stop Wadera from killing the peace. Peeta leads the doctor into the living room and I suddenly feel like I don't belong.

"Peeta?" I call after him.

He pokes his head around the corner. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm going to go visit Hass, I feel like you two should talk in private."

I began slipping on my shoes, Peeta tells the doctor to wait a second and approaches me, laying his hands on both my shoulders. "You don't have to leave Katniss"

"I know, I just feel like you should talk about it in private with him. Besides I miss Hass and am still worried about his knife wound."

"Alright please be careful out there though" He says seriously.

"I'm always careful" I say and tie my shoes. I slip on a jacket and turn to him, "I love you"

"I love you too" He says and leans forward to kiss me deeply. We part and go our separate ways.

I walk out of the building and call for a cab. While waiting for the car to pick me up I examined the capitol's dark colored sky. A storm was coming, a bad one too, what was with all the storms during this season. I much rather it rain all the time then have the gross white snow fall from the sky and freeze everything up. I hated the winter season with a passion, not just because it was cold, but because I stayed cooped up in the house back home in district 12. We got a lot of snow during winter, it sometimes got so bad that people would be trapped in their homes for a couple days, sometimes even weeks. That happened to Peeta and I, but we were trapped for only 3 days before Haymitch and a couple miners decided to dig us out. I take my eyes off the grey, dark sky as the cab pulled up to the building. The driver gave me a warm smile and I hopped in.

It didn't take him long to get to the hospital. Once he was there I paid him and stepped out of the car. He unrolled the passengers window and stared at me. "Want me to stay dear?" He questions.

"You know what no, I'll walk back" I say.

"Are you sure it looks like its going to rain."

"I'll be fine" I assure him.

He urges with me no more and shrugs his shoulders. "If your sure dear. If you change your mind I"m a phone call away."

"Thank you"

He nods and drives off leaving me standing at the entrance to the hospital. I dreaded going into the large white building, I hated hospitals with such a passion, something about being around injured and sick people really didn't settle with me. I have no idea how some people are able to become a nurse or a doctor, the sight of blood sickens me and the thought of having to look at it 24 hours a day is horrible. I entered the hospital and padded my way up the the front desk. Thankfully it was a different reception. The girl with the glasses had been fired thanks to me. I hated the fact that she grabbed hold of Peeta's shirt and smiled at him seductively. This new woman had curly brown hair and as soon as she saw me a large smile appeared on her face. Crap, She recognizes me as the mockingjay. I had to stay calm and not make a scene, hopefully I was wrong, I didn't want people to form a circle around me and start taking pictures. I calmly walked up to the front desk and folded my hands on the desk-top.

"May I help you?" She asks kindly.

"Umm Yeah, I'm here to see a friend of mine."

"Name please?"

"Hass Fredrickson"

She grabs hold of a 12 page paper, all stapled together and starts going through the list and names of all the people that were staying here. It takes her a couple minutes to find him, but when she does she smiles and taps the name of the fifth page of the paper.

"He is on the top floor, his room has been moved, he's actually in recovery. Room 4AB" She says.

"Thank you so much" I grin and walk happily towards the elevator that will take me to the top floor. Once there I nearly bolted down the halls , Glancing at each room number hoping to find room 4AB. When I did finally find the right room, excitement filled my body. I was going to get to see his grey seam eyes, relief filled my body as I realized that Hass had survived his attack and was just on the other side of the door. I laid a hand on the doorknob and entered the room. There he was, standing by the window, his back towards me, but only for a split second because when he heard the door open he glanced up at me in alert. As soon as he saw me a bright smile appeared across his face and he began limping towards me.

"Kitten, where have you been?" He grinned.

Once he was close I stood on my tiptoes and wrapped him in a gentle hug. "Your alright?" I say and hug him tighter. I really thought I'd never seen the man that saved my life twice again. He was on deaths door that night Wadera's knife pierced his side and the last time I saw him he was being lifted into the back of an ambulance. I felt tears of joy began to prickle my eyes. Hass kisses me on the forehead and lets go, limping his way over to the neatly made bed. He stumbles a bit and I catch his arm and help him the rest of the way.

"I'm happy your here kitty, but I'd expected you to be at that safe house by now" Hass says.

"I couldn't go, not until I made sure you were safe."

He stares at me in awe, "You really do care"

"I do Hass, your a good friend. One that I can't bare to loose" Of course he wasn't my best friend, that spot has already been filled. Gale will always be my best friend in the entire world, but Hass; he was actually getting there. I cared about him like I cared for Gale. It was only one feeling though and that was friendship I will not be put into another love triangle, it will not be Peeta, Hass and I. We just didn't have that kind of feelings for each other, at least I didn't' I wasn't sure how he felt about me, Hass wasn't particularly easy to read. There was a brief silence between us then Hass spoke, "Did you kill him?"

"After he stabbed you, he could of easily finished me off, but he didn't" I explain.

Hass bites his lip and thinks real hard. "He must be planning something"

"Huh?"

"Think about it Kitty. He's toying with you, if he wanted you dead he would of done it already. He is hesitating which means he likes seeing you suffer. That night in the hotel room when he had his hands around your neck, he was squeezing, but he wasn't squeeze hard, just hard enough to make you pass out and loose oxygen and on the train, I don't remember much, I just remember feeling this piercing pain as the metal of the blades slips in. He tried to kill me and he almost did. He shoved that blade twice into my groin, I really shouldn't be here" Hass mumbles.

"Don't talk like that, your here, your safe, they saved you"

He completely ignores me and continues talking. This must have been on his mind for awhile because I can't get him to shut up. "You said he left the train compartment after he stabbed me. You were laying on your back, if he truly wanted you dead he would of ended it all there."

"Are you saying he's not trying to kill me?" I ask confused.

"No its obvious he does want you dead, its just I think he has a specific way of doing it planned."

"You think he has something planned?"

"Yeah I really do"

"I don't know what to say Hass"

"Say you'll go into the safe house. I'm fine, you see that now, now please keep yourself safe kitty." He gives me a pleading look and then I realize he doesn't know about my choice to join Commander Rend's defense squad. He doesn't know about my personal mission to find and destroy Wadera. He was my friend and I wasn't going to lie to him.

"I"m not going" I whisper.

"What do you mean your not going?"

"I'm saying I joined a defense team in order to kill that son of a bitch" I blurt out.

Hass frowns and shakes his head at me in disappointment. "You and Peeta need to focus on that cure. Isn't that the whole reason you came? You didn't come to fight and defend these people"

"Your right I didn't come here to fight some mini war, I came here for Peeta, but these people died for Peeta and I, they protected us at the party, escorts gave their lives at the train station in order for Peeta and I to escape, hell you were stabbed twice trying to protect me. People are willing to die for us, people are dying for us and its time I do the same. I can't turn my back on them and hide. I can't allow them to die and do nothing but hide and watch. I don't want no special treatment, I"m a person just like everyone else and I'm going to act just like everyone else, fight like everyone else and die like everyone else" I finish my speech and glance up at him. He is staring at me, his face emotionless, Finally he smiles and rubs the back on his head.

"Damn...What a woman, Peeta is the luckiest man alive. You know if you guys ever separate I'm available" He jokes. Shit.

I punch him lightly in the arm and laugh "Not going to happen"

"I figured, besides kitty your too wild for me. Only Peeta can tame the beast" He laughs at his own joke and I can't help but crack a smile and laugh along with him. I punch his arm harder this time, making him flinch and clutch his side. His laughter dies down and he takes deep breaths.

"I'm sorry" I apologize feeling like crap.

"It's okay I got to excited." He limps over to the bed and sits down holding his side in the process. His face scrunches up in pain and he bites his bottom lip.

"I'm going to make him pay Hass I swear to you"

"Good I'll help once I get these wounds healed. I'll start training with you and show you how to really punch someone in the mouth." I flash back to the day I met him, the day he saved my life. He fought York and two of York's friends, it was three against one and Hass easily kicked the shit out of them all. He was a good fighter, if he was able to take on three and I couldn't wait to learn from the best in hand and hand combat. Hass and I talked for the longest time and before I knew it visiting hours were over. Had I really spent all day in the hospital with him? I looked at the clock it was 8:00 at night and raining like hell. I walked out of the hospital and made my way over to the pay phone, but before I could slide into the tightly cramp space and call a cab something caught my eye or at least someone caught my eye and rage filled my body. He was following me, watching every move I made. I slid out of the phone booth and stood in the pouring rain, staring at the figure that was just a couple feet away from me. He stood there unmoving. I couldn't see his face it was to dark. I took a step forward and his piercing brown eyes meet my grey ones. His brown hair was darker than usual because of the rain.

"How's Odair?" His voice sent shivers down my spine and I had to stop myself from shaking in fear. Why was I so afraid of this guy? He was nothing, just like his brother was nothing, but then again I feared Cato for awhile. Then I realized he was just a scared tribute trying to win the games and keep his life.

"Why are you following me?" I ask with despite.

"I like watching you Mockingjay, I like getting you alone like this" He takes a step towards me, revealing himself completely. I stood my ground as he took little, baby steps towards me. My mind was screaming at me to run, but I willed my body to remain motionless. I'm not scared, I'm not scared, I"m not scared. I kept telling myself this over and over again. We were finally inches apart.

"Are you scared?"

"No" I lied.

He placed his hands on my neck and my body involuntary let out a shake. He laughs, "Come on little mockingjay, why won't you run"

"Because you won't kill me, not yet at least. Whatever your planning won't work"

He sets his jaw, his face hardens and he frowns. "What makes you think I won't kill you here and now?" His grip on my throat is getting tighter.

"Because you would of done it already if you were truly hell bent on killing me" I boldly say, "You would have killed me on the train after you stabbed Hass, Why didn't you slit my throat, you could of, why didn't you slit my throat in the hotel room when you magically appeared in my room, you could of just rammed the sword through my heart, but you didn't, you played with me during each and every encounter we had."

Wadera grins at me and starts laughing like a madman. "You are a smart one, its true I'm not ready to kill you yet, but don't worry when the time comes I'll take great pleasure and running a sword through these tiny little ribs of yours and gutting you like fucking fish. It's coming Katniss Everdeen" He says my full name something he's never done before and it just sends shivers down my spine. "May the odds me in our favor" He whispers so lowly and just like that he disappears into the night.

To be continued...


	22. Pause

OMG You guys are so amazing I hit my 400th review, this story just hit the halfway point I'm so excited. You guys give me motivation to type and get all my thoughts out. I don't know what I'd do without your wonderful comments. Keep them coming and I promise I'll make the chapters more exciting, oh yeah and if anyone wants to request anything feel free to say something like if you want me to go into detail about Katniss and Peeta's wedding or whatever you wanna see let me know and I won't disappoint you :). One more thing, my story Star-Crossed lovers is nothing more than a collection of one-shots, it has nothing to do with this story or will have no storyline. The only thing I have written so far is a scene from fire and flames that is Katniss and Peeta's first time. I am not trying to go back and fourth from past to present, they are ONE-SHOTS. thats it.

Chapter 22

A Pause

(Peeta's POV)

I thrust my fist forward and cracked him hard in the jaw, he stumbled backward holding the side of his face. He shoots me a deadly look and then lunged forward. The man was incredibly huge and could easily flatten me like a pancake if he was a little faster at moving. I dodged each one of his attacks and slipped behind him, The guy was taller than me by only a couple of inches and he had to be packing at last 34 pounds in pure muscle, but no matter. I grabbed the man in a headlock and pushed my body forward so he fell face first on the mat with me laying on his back. He was suddenly on his feet again after my attempt at having him surrender. I lost my grip on his neck as he flipped me over his shoulder. I landed with a loud bang on my back. The mat barely did anything to make my fall painless. From the sidelines I heard Katniss let out a gasp and I saw her place her hand against her mouth, she was worried for me, but I only smiled and gave her a reassuring grin. This guy in front of me wasn't going to hurt me, this was just practice, we didn't have to start worrying about anything until the mission to take out Wadera started and that wasn't for another couple of months. I had a long couple of months ahead of me between focusing on the training and curing my hijacking. After talking with Dr. Bryce yesterday we have come to the conclusion that my episodes are triggered through my emotions. I could of told him that. He said he'd help me find a cure for it, but it would take awhile. He told me he wanted to talk to me about it everyday whie I was here in the capitol and who was I to dismiss his help. Our appointments would be before and after my training sessions, so talking with him two times a day might really help me out. It was time I focus on the cure, than on Wadera. Even though I realized I haven't had an episode in quiet a long time.

I snapped out of my thoughts just in enough time to see the large man in front of me, He picked me up and then body slam me onto the mat below. I let out a loud groan and then tapped the ground signaling my surrender. My sides screamed in pain and I laid there groaning; it really has been a long time since I have been in the ring with someone. I; like Katniss was really rusty when it came to combat situations. The large man grabbed me by the front of my collar and yanked me to my feet. He shook my hand, smiled and went on his way. I rubbed the back of my head and glanced up towards Katniss who was in the process of approaching me. She laid her hand on my shoulder and I flinched from the fatigue that was slowly growing within my body.

"You think throwing sacks of flour over my shoulder would keep me in shape, but obviously not" I smile.

"Practice Peeta, besides that guy was ten times bigger than you and stronger" She says.

"Miss. Everdeen I'm so close in throwing your skinny ass in that upstairs pool. Peeta Mellark is the strongest man out there" I joke with her and lean in for a kiss, but the sound of heavy footsteps stopped me and I look up to see the piercing eyes of Commander Rend. He had his arms across his chest and he is tapping his large boot off the ground.

"Really? These are my war-heroes?" Rend sighed unimpressed at our performance.

"Wait a minute, She's amazing with a bow, you haven't even seen her yet. So don't judge her" I say with a tone of voice that he didn't like.

"Tiny Mellark, Fifty push-ups, 20 sit-ups and 12 jumping jacks, your scrawny ass needs muscles. Now go you little weakling" I don't argue with the boss, even though I'd like to. I see Katniss shoot him a dirty look for being so hostel towards me. Rend must of seen it to because he approached Katniss, shot her the same deadly look and the moved on. I got into a kneeling position and began my exercises. After the 30th push-up I could feel my arms and legs become sore, but I pushed that feeling aside and kept going. I did my sit-ups, my jumping jacks and finally I was done and Rend was once again standing in front of me.

"Tiny Mellark, Ready for another sparring round?" Rend grinned at me.

"Against who sir?"

Rend smiles deviously, "You'll find out, now take your position on mat 12 and do your stretches, your opponent will be out shortly."

I began stretching and pulling my limbs, getting prepared to face whoever it was Rend wanted me to face. I peered around the training room center until my eyes rested on Katniss. She was at the archery station. No surprise there. I watched her shoot arrows at the large round targets, nailing every single one of them in the center. From across the room Rend had his eyes glued on her, watching her devour each round target with her bow.

"Is that your girlfriend?" A soft unfamiliar voice filled my ears. I whipped around to see a young woman with brown hair and deep blue eyes. She was short, maybe 5'5, her hair was really curly and she was super skinny. She wore them really small short that came up to her calf and a short blue tank-top that exposed her belly button. She was actually very pretty and I started wondering why a young girl like her joined a deadly squad like this. I didn't question her though. Everyone had their reasons. Katniss and I joined so we could fight the peacekeepers, defend our lives and protect the peace Paylor worked so hard in forming.

"Hi, I'm Peeta" I introduced kindly. I take a step forward and offer her my hand. Which she kindly takes and the two of us shake.

"I know who you are" She smiles, "You are well liked in my family" She blushes.

"Oh!" I blush, "Where you from?"

"District 5, but we live in the capitol now. I'm training to be a solider, to defend the new world Paylor has created and my mother sells her trinkets and jewelry to capitol people. These people love shiny things" She jokes and I laugh amused at her joke.

"So I guess your my opponent?" I questions.

She nods, "Looks that way. Peeta Mellark I swear to go easy on you"

If anything, I should take it easy on this girl. She is so fragile looking that I am afraid I might break her in half. Why would Rend chose a girl for me to spar with. Did he not think I was strong enough to take out one of the larger men in the squad. There were twenty people in the whole squad, Katniss, Johanna and this girl whose name I did not catch are the only females in this entire squad. That I know of.

"What's your name?"

"Oh how rude of me. My name is Naomi, so Mr. Mellark..." I cut her off with a wave of my index finger and a small smile.

"Peeta actually, plain Peeta. Mr. Mellark makes me sound old. Which I'm not I"m only 22."

"Okay, Peeta, you know your awful cute. I hate to have to be the one to whip on you, but orders are orders" She winked and bit her lip.

"I'll go easy on you little girl" I chuckled.

"I study Martial arts cutie pie, I started studying when I was 14"

"Does Rend want you to teach me stuff or pound the crap out of me?" I ask.

"Pound the crap out of you, but I'll teach you things to" She says with a smile. We are silent for a couple of seconds. I glance over my shoulder to see Katniss was still in the process of shooting her arrows. Naomi followed my gaze and smiled brightly. "The mockingjay is impressive isn't she"

My heart flutters in my chest as I watch Katniss pull back her arrows and hit the bull eyes. I took a moment to study every inch of her, starting with her black wavy hair, Her thin tiny body, strong back. I couldn't catch sight of her beautiful gray eyes because she was staring at the target in front of her. She is incredibly beautiful and I love every inch of her.

"Yeah, My fiancee is lethal with a bow and arrows." I smirk.

Naomi's face dropped an inch and she bites her lip again. "So the great Peeta Mellark is taken?"

"Yeah" I reply, not taking my eyes off Katniss. She looked so beautiful with a bow and arrow in her hands, All I wanted to do was approach her, rip off her clothes and take her right here and now in front of the entire squad. I watch Katniss walk across the room and place the bow and arrow back into a sliver rack. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she takes a seat on the bench and brings her legs up to her chest. I immediately know something is wrong with her. She has been like that since she got home from visiting Hass in the hospital. Something had happen and as much as I pried at her to tell what it was; she kept her mouth shut. I knew it had something to do with Wadera because when she came home to the apartment complex. She was shaking, her clothes were soaked and she was holding back tears. I had asked her what was wrong and she replied Wadera and that was the end of that.

Naomi waved a hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my thoughts. I blinked a couple times and turned to face her. She shoot me a worried look and tilted her head to the left. I looked to my left and there, standing with his hands behind his back was commander Rend. He was glaring at me.

"Mellark, Did you hear what I said?" Rend asked in a scolding tone.

"No sir" I replied honestly in a calm voice.

"Stop undressing your girlfriend with your eyes and pay attention to what your commanding officer has to tell you." Rend hisses.

"Sorry sir"

He grunts and starts pacing back and fourth, looking from me to Naomi. "You met Carter?"

I nod "Yes sir, and sir why would you have me spar against someone who studies martial arts."

"What's the matter Mellark can't handle a 90 pound girl"

"Its an unfair fight really" Naomi muttered.

"Excuse me, was I talking to you?" Rend spat at her.

Naomi shakes her head, keeping her eyes locked on the ground in front of her. She kicks her foot back and fourth across the mat and refuses to look up at the commander. I'm beginning to hate this commander more and more. I can see what Katniss was talking about when she said he had it out for her, it seemed like he had it out for me too, either that or he was just being hard on us so we would become better soldiers. Rend had his way in training people and I was not going to question that. I was just going to go with it, both Katniss and I needed as much help as possible if we even wanted to stand a chance against Wadera. Thinking about that man caused my hand to curl into a fist. I'd give anything to kill that son of a bitch for everything he has done.

Wadera has disturbed the peace, he shot at the woman I loved and ended up hitting me. He tried to choke her and ram a damn sword through her chest. If it wasn't for Hass she'd be dead. He did all these horrible things to Katniss and for what? Because Katniss killed his brother, did what she had to do to stay alive. Was Wadera's hatred for her just because of Cato and Snow's death or did it go deeper than that? There were so many things, So many questions I wanted to know, but the answers seem to slip by unseen. Who was Wadera really? What was he planning? Was he really Cato's brother? Did he really have a strong connection to Snow?

"Mellark!" Rend's hand comes up and slaps me into the back of my head. I must of zoned out again because when I looked up at him he had the look of death written across his face. This man really hated to be ignored.

"What?"

"Are you going to fight her or stand there all day"

I looked over at Naomi and she just shrugged and bit her lip. "Fight I guess."

Rend smiled. "Neither one of you hold back. Loser has to do fifty push-ups, ten sit-up and twenty jumping jacks. One the count of three. One...two...Go" He shouts.

I immediately lunge towards the 90 pound girl, fists flying in the air, ready to strike her. She easy slipped out of my path,jump in the air. Her long thin leg shot out and hits me in the side. It stung like crazy. I turned around only to meet her tiny fist. For a small girl she really knew how to punch. I grabbed hold of her wrist and hauled her off the ground. She kicked and squirm, trying desperately to break free, but I held her in a tight iron grip. she slipped out of my grasp and landed on her feet in front of me. I lunged towards her again. She flipped up in the air and this time her foot connected with my face and I was down for the count. Laying face-down on the mattress.

"I'm so sorry Peeta" She shrieked and kneeled beside me. There is a stinging sensation in my left cheek and I could feel it become inflamed. I rose to my feet and cradled my face in my hand. Rend stood there, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

"Do your exercises double since you lost to a girl" He turns around and as he does I flip him off and stalk over to an empty mat to do my push-ups. Naomi kneels down next to me and begins doing push-up with me.

"I"ll do half of your exercises." She says.

"You don't have to"

"Thats okay, it was an unfair fight"

Naomi and I do our push-ups, sit-ups and jumping jacks and by the time I'm finished my arms feel like jelly, my shoulder are hurting so bad and all I want to do is fall into a deep sleep. I'm sweaty, dirty and feeling the fatigue. The training room begins to clear out. Naomi and I walk towards the entrance where Katniss is waiting patiently. I don't know how her training session went, but mine was complete hell. I stop in front of her and give her a pouting look.

"Its nice to meet you mockingjay" Naomi suddenly says, she sticks out her hand and Katniss takes it just to be nice. "I'm really sorry for kicking your boyfriend in the face"

"Its okay as long as you knock some sense into him" Katniss jokes. She winks at me, but I glare at her, trying to be as serious as possible, but its impossible because the cute look she is giving me makes me laugh and I roll my eyes.

"I"m Naomi Carter" She introduces herself.

"Katniss Everdeen" Katniss replies and they shake hands again.

"The mockingjay?" She grins.

Katniss shakes her head violently. "Just Katniss please."

"Alright. Katniss then." She smiles and starts walking out the door, suddenly she stops for a split second, winks at me and goes on her way. Katniss must of seen the wink because she places her hand on her hip and glares daggers at the girl.

"Not another Ceal" She whimpers.

"This girl is nothing like Ceal" I assure her.

"She got the hots for you though?"

"Can you blame her, look at this face" I chuckle and Katniss rolls her eyes and we begin our journey upstairs.

* * *

><p>I sigh in relief as my bare back his the back part of the tub, warm water engulfs my tired, fatigue muscles. The bubbles that begin the fill my tub fill my body with a sense of comfort. I close my eyes and rest my head against the back of the tub. This is the best I've felt all day. It really was a hard day of training and I was not looking forward to tomorrow. I had to get up early, meet with the doctor Bryce, train and then if I have time meet with Bryce again. I was too fatigue to meet with him today, which he understands its hard for me to train and then sit down to talk about my hijacking. Which surprisingly hasn't been to bad. Ever since Haymitch and I have discovered it is my emotions that trigger the episodes: I've been careful.<p>

The bathroom doors creaks open and Katniss pokes her head inside. She enters the large room carrying three very large scented candles. She set them on the edge off the enormous bathroom sink and uses a small pink lighter to spark the tiny flames. I lifted my head off the back of the tub and look at her, just in enough time to see her shed her long blue, silky nightgown. She stands nude in the bathroom and I can't help but look at her body. The body I've violated so many times. Tonight however she will not be violated because I was so damn tired and would probably fall asleep in the middle of it. She moves across the room and climbs into the tub behind me, I sit up so she can squeeze in between me and the tub. She puts her bare legs on either side of me and I lean back against her, The back of my head is resting against her breast. I feel her hands start to rub my aching shoulders and I let out a long moan. It feels so good, her rubbing my aching muscles.

"I hope you don't mind me invading your bath" She grips my shoulders and places a kiss on the back on my neck.

"Not at all Please continue" I encourage her.

"You've had a rough day honey. Your so tense"

"Seems like Rend likes to see me suffer"

Katniss sighs, "He said its nothing personal, he just wants us to do good"

"Running me into the dirt and making me spar a martial artist isn't exactly helping to much. The fatigue is killing me" I groan.

"You'll be alright, I'll take care of you" She smiles.

She squeezes my shoulders tighter and drags her fingernails down to the center of my back. She rubs the center of my back, sides, arms and back up to my shoulder blades where she continues the massage. It is the most amazing feeling ever, having her touch me like this. I close my eyes and focus of the feel of her tiny hands against my skin. A small hunger starts to rise in my body. A hunger that only Katniss can fulfill; if it wasn't for this fatigue I would have my way with her right here and now, but my muscles scream in protest.

"I love seeing you jealous" I mumble randomly.

"Jealous?" Katniss asks confused.

"I saw you giving her the sink eye" I chuckle.

"I can't help but be jealous, I hate it when girls stare at your ass when you walk by or how they giggle when they come into your bakery at home."

"Their just girls, crazy little fan girls that I pay no attention to." I smile.

She sighs and wraps her arms around me, kissing my cheek, the corner of my lips and the back of my neck in the process.

"I just hate it she is the third girl I've seen eyeball you. First Ceal, then that woman at the hospital and now this girl uhh...What's her name again?"

"Naomi Carter" Peeta replies.

I shift my position so my chest is pressing against hers. I catch her bottom lip and kiss her. She giggles as I kiss her and wraps her legs around my waist. I'm driving us deeper and deeper into the kiss and then suddenly I push forward and she lets out a deep moan, her nails are digging deep into my back, legs wrapped around my waist. She urges me to rock back and fourth, but I remain still and look into her eyes. The bubbles and foam are all over our body, hiding us from view. The only part of our body that is above the comfortable bath water is our heads.

"Make love to me" She gently whisper and I have problem in doing so, I would just have to deal with the fatigue from my training and be done with it. Making love with Katniss was Amazing and I wouldn't miss out on it for the world.

"Do you want to do this without protection?" I ask her seriously.

She bites her lip and kisses me quickly. "How much do you want a baby?"

My mouth suddenly drops and I am lost for words. "A lot, but I thought we have agree not to try until everything cleared up. My hijacking, Wadera, the peacekeepers, everything"

"I don't want a baby, I really don't. I don't know how to be a mother. I would suck at it, I wouldn't make it through the labor pains, but I've been thinking a lot about the pregnancy I went through last time and to tell you the honest truth it wasn't so bad carrying your baby. To have apart of you and a part of me growing inside. I want to know right now, What would you do if we were pregnant again?"

My heart is beating a million miles per minute. I can't think straight. Was she really going to tell me she was pregnant again. She has been throwing up a lot lately. Last night, after her visit from the hospital, she laid in the bathroom for an hour dry heaving. I can't get her pregnant again, I was not clear of my hijacking and had a good chance of killing this baby too. I may have not had an episode for a long time, but that doesn't mean they aren't there, waiting for a chance to creep up and take over. I quickly sit up and climb out of the tub, leaving her laying on her back stunned. I wrap a towel around my waist and head out into the bedroom. Katniss follows me in her own towel.

"Peeta, talk to me" She says approaching me, laying her tiny hand on my shoulder.

"Please tell me your not pregnant again."

"I think so, the last time I felt like this, the sickness, the dizziness, it was in 12" She mumbles.

I want a baby so badly, I would love to be a father, but after the incident in 12, the guilt of killing our unborn child was still there. I wasn't going to go there again. She couldn't be pregnant, not now, when everything is so screwed up. Not when there is a madman on the lose threatening to kill Katniss. Wadera would have a field day if he figured out She was pregnant. What would he do to her? Would he cut my baby right out of her? I'll kill him before he touches a hair on her head. I was clutching my fist so hard that blood began to seep from my palm. Katniss moves beside me and places a hand on my bare arm. I shrug my shoulder away from her hand and move across the room to fetch a pair of pants. I slid them on and turn my attention to Katniss.

"Please say something" She begs holding her towel against her body tighter.

"What do you want me to say? HUH?" I snapped, my anger rising, I'm pissed and angry at myself for allowing myself to become close to her again. Now it wasn't only her life that was in danger; it was my unborn baby.

"Anything just tell me what your feeling talk to me." She pleas.

I feel my face burn in anger, but my anger and rage was not at her; it was towards myself. I have been so stupid in making love to her so much, stupid and careless. I should of just stuck with my plan in leaving her, that way she would be safe and sound.I couldn't help but comfort her after Wadera's first attempt at ending her life. She was so scared that night, crying, shaking and frightened I could leave her like that. That was the night we had gotten back together after a couple days of being apart. I realized blood was starting to seep from my palm and run down my arm. I was clutching my fist so hard it was causing my palms to bleed. I tilt my head up and stare at Katniss Everdeen with such hatred. The mutt is back and she is more dangerous than ever. How dare she accuse me of being the father of her unborn baby. That bastard child probably belonged to her friend and lover Gale Hawthorne. The man with the black hair and gray seam eyes. The man she spent every waking moment in the woods with. He was the baby's father not me.

"Not real Peeta. Come back to me. Fight it, control your emotions."

"Don't tell me to control shit, bitch" I yell and begin to approach her. She cries and takes a step back from me, begging me to think clearly. I am thinking Cleary, I'm doing what Mr. Snow wanted me to do. Make her life miserable.

"Are you pregnant Mutt?" I ask yelling.

"Yes" She replies, tears running down her cheeks.

"Who is the babies father, I need to know that way I can apologize to him after I kill you and his child..." My voice trails off and I let a devious grin appear on my lips, "Come on Mutt tell me who it is or don't you know"

"Its yours, Your the only person I have ever had sex with" She cries.

I roll my eyes and laugh at her lie, I approach her and roughly grab her by the upper-arms. She gasp as my grip on her arms tighten.

"I love you, Peeta" She says and pecks me on the lips. Suddenly I'm standing there confused. The last couple of minutes have been a complete blur to me. Katniss is in my arms crying her eyes out. She has her hands wrapped around my neck and her face is nuzzled into the crook of my neck. I've gone and done it again. I've upset her, hurt her. I held her close and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sorry. I love you" I kiss her lips and stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry I upset you" She says.

"No its Your fault sweetheart, I can't control this" I say using the nickname Haymitch had given her.

We stayed in the middle of the bedroom, me holding her and allowing her to cry. When she was done, we dressed and I carried her over to the bed and laid her down. I took my place beside her and pulled the covers over us. She snuggles deep into my chest and I hold her.

"What are we going to do, Peeta?"

"I don't know, We got to make sure you are really pregnant."

"Alright, I'll skip training tomorrow and go to the hospital. I got to go there anyway to visit Hass. That will be my excuse. Nobody can't find out about this. It just between me and you. No Haymitch, Effie, Delly or Gale, none of them need to know" She says.

"Don't worry they won't find out, nobody will find out."

"I can't have Wadera..." She took a deep breath and buried her head into my chest. "Just...stay with me this time. Please, don't run off. Episodes or No episodes You cannot leave me"

"I promise. Always" I kiss her

* * *

><p>(Gale's POV)<p>

Theres thousands of them surround me. They stand unmoving, every pair of eyes were on me in the middle of the circle. I can run, can't hide; all I can do is stand there and stare into the faces of thousands of children. Their lives were unfairly taken from them. They smelled like burnt flesh and ashes, parts of their skin were horrible burn. black as coal. I stood there as still as I could ,eyes closed, hands and legs shaking from the fear that was creeping through my body. Maybe if I close my eyes hard enough they would disappear and let me be. No such luck, when I opened my eyes their was more of them. They had grown in numbers. The names and faces of children that burn when the bomb I helped build exploded and destroyed the city circle five years ago. I twirled around trying to get a good look at the thousands of children that circled me. It wasn't until they started inching towards me did I start to panic. The stone cold look they had on their face was gone, replaced by a furious smile.

"I didn't know" I screamed and swatted at a young burned boy who was trying to grab my arms. They placed their coal burnt hands on my arms, legs, back and just about every place they could find. I thrashed against them kicking, cursing, screaming foul things at them. I swing my arms into the air kicking and screaming as the children approached me. They turned to ash as I hit them, but with every one that fall a new one is replaced. I soon became overwhelmed and dropped to my knees. I curled up into a ball and let of a whimper. The burnt flesh that was their hands still touched me all over. Their smell invaded my nostrils and all I wanted to do was vomit.

"I'm sorry" I repeated over and over again while rocking back and fourth.

"Your not sorry Gale, you'll never be sorry" A familar voice pierced my ears. I cracked my eyes opened the find the dead kids that were surrounding me gone. I rose to my feet and examined the area more closely, finally I found the owner of the voice and my heart dropped to the ground. Her blonde hair was tied in two braids and she wore a simple white dress. "Prim?"

"You hurt me Gale, Why?"

"I didn't mean too, I didn't know what would happen" I cry out.

"You killed me, You killed me and loved it"

"NO" I screamed.

Prim takes four large strides forward, she stops in front of my, places a hand on my shoulders and rips part of her burnt dead flesh off her face. "I'm not pretty anymore. I'm a monster, look what you did to me gale look" I push her away and began running through circle city. I can hear her choking on blood behind me, she is laughing crying and the scent of flesh is becoming unbearable. I continue running and running until suddenly I run right into the fierce flames. I scream at the pain and drop to my feet, Prim is there hovering over me, grinning, watching me burn to death. Her hand is about to touch me, but as it does my eyes snap open and I find myself in a nice comfortable bed looking up at the dark black walls. I had bolted upright and am breathing so deeply and so heavily.

"Gale?" A soft sleepy, soothing voice fills my ears. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing go back to sleep" I say and throw the covers off of me.

"Nightmare?" She questions and gets up with me.

"Yeah, how did you know?" I say quietly. She smiles at me and bring her hand to a rest on my bare shoulder. She gives it a squeeze and then leans forward and replaces her hand with her lips. "Well after taking an elbow to the face, it became obvious that you were dreaming because your fist were flying and some pretty foul things were leaving your mouth"

"I hit you in the face?" I ask flickering on the lamp that was sitting next to the table. I tilted her face from side to side examining every inch of her inflamed cheek. I was about to apologized but her lips silenced me and she kissed me for a good couple minutes.

"I'm not hurt" She assures me.

"I'm sorry" I apologize and she kisses me again to assure me she was fine and her cheek merely stung.

"Don't be sorry" She smiles, "Lets go back to sleep"

I shake my head, "I can't go back to sleep"

I got up from the bed completely and padded over to the dresser, I dug through the large amounts of clothe I had stashed in there and pulled out a simple tank-too. I left my Pajama pants off and headed into the living room to make myself a cup of coffee, hot chocolate, anything that would calm my nerves. The nightmare I had really rattle my nerves and I wanted to push the images out of my head.

"Do you want to go for a walk with me?" I ask Delly who was in the process of getting comfortable on the couch. She smiled, nodded her head and disappeared into the back bedroom to put on something more decent rather than a nightgown. Not like it mattered anyway it was 2 in the morning, nobody was going to be up this time of night. She returns to the living room wearing a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt.

"Where we going?" She asks.

"I don't know yet" I reply.

"We can go to the pool or the rec room or the training or we can just wander the halls and you can tell me about your nightmare"

"I don't want to talk about that" I lightly scold her.

"Talking does help" She says.

"I'm not ready to talk" I mumble.

"Alright" Delly says letting the subject drop.

We walk down the dimly lit hallways hand and hand, not saying one word to each other. I wasn't in the talkative mood at the moment. All I could think about was the nightmare and the faces of those kids that seem to be popping into my mind every night since I got here. We walked down a flight of stairs and entered the dark training room, the lights were all off; of course they would be it was 2 in the morning anyway and I"m pretty sure we are not allowed in here after hours, but I didn't care, what was life without breaking the rules. Delly gasp as I flicker on the lights revealing the enormous amounts of equipment that lay untouched. She spun around trying to take in everything at once.

"Wow, they make you use all this?" She asks.

I nod "Yeah, most of it, the mats, the punching bag and the sparring station is the only thing I have done so far, but they got everything a boxing station, survival station, Archery station which my best friend loves that."

"I hear Katniss is good with a bow"

"You should see her she is amazing" I say in an excited voice.

"I know she shoots squirrels right through the eyes when she hunts them. Peeta and I grew up together and often would eat her squirrels she delivered to his father, its impressive how clean the kill would be."

"Yeah, she is a lot better than me." I say

"Aren't you good at snares and traps?"

I nod.

"Can you teach me when we get back to 12?"

"Sure if you want me too, but I warn you, your stepping into a mans territory snares and traps are for men" I tease.

Delly rolls her eyes, "I can handle it just as well as you can. Teach me to punch like a man and I'll be good at it like that" She snaps her fingers and laughs out loud, hearing her laugh is like music to my ears. Not that I like that much music, but still it is amazing.

"I'll teach you talk like a man"

"Sit like a man" She laughs

"Smell like a man"

She makes a goofy face and shakes her head multiple times, "I like smelling pretty, I don't want to smell like sweat."

"We're minty fresh babe and don't you forget it. Now let me teach you how to really punch someone in the face"

I lead her over towards on of the punching bags hanging on the silver chain. I get her a pair of white gloves and gently wrap her hands with them. She is facing the punching bag and I move so I am behind her, Our arms and hands our touching. My hand is on top of hers and I gently force her to make a fist. She does and I guide her fist to the punching bag. I have my head rested on her shoulder and every once in awhile I peck her neck earning a giggle.

"I've never punched anyone before." She whispers.

"Lets hope you never have to, only do it when someone is coming at you. Don't you ever, EVER lay down and let someone hit on you" I say seriously.

I guide her hand to the punching bag multiple times, until I let go and have her hit it on her own. She gives it a pretty good hard hit before turning to me, standing on her tiptoes and kissing me on the lips deeply. I haunch over and deepen the kiss, running my hands through her blonde silky hair. She is grabbing handfuls of my hair and is deepening the kiss more and more. I can't stand it anymore I pick her up so she is leveled with me. It doesn't feel very good to have to hunch over while kissing. Her legs go around my waist as I kiss her harder. Somewhere in between all our kissing we fell back against one of the mats, me gently on top of her, I held up most of my weight on my arms and continued kissing. Our breathing was getting out of control and her soft moans was making it hard for me to be gently. I break the kiss so we could both breath. My lips going to her neck where her shoulder and neck meet.

"Make love to me" She says in a faint whisper.

I stop what I am doing and look down at her completely shocked by her words. I bite my lip as our eyes bore into each other. I'm trying to find doubt in her eyes, but found none. She is completely serious and I can't allow this moment to happen on a training mat. I roll off of her and help her to her feet.

"I'm sorry, I can't"

"Why not?"

"Your still scared to become involved like that with someone I can feel it"

"I...I can...I don't know"

"Delly that is lust talking and I want us to have sex out of love, just like any other couple and besides you deserve a man that will be gentle with you and to tell you the truth I'm not that gentle"

She takes my hand into hers and kisses my palm, "You'll be gentle with me I know you will"

"I've never been gentle with anyone"

"I trust you"

"Well don't" I mutter.

I don't know why I suddenly feel angry, but something about the fact that she wants to make love to me, but is too afraid to do it, sets me off. I will never make love to her for as long as I live. I am by nature a rough man and he women I have been with can verify my accusation.

"I love you and I don't want to hurt you Del"

"I understand" She says sounding a bit hurt.

"We should got to sleep"

She nods her head in agreement and the two of us make our way back to the room. We lay down on the bed, her with her head on my chest. She falls asleep first and I do nothing but listen to her soft steady breathing. I fight to stay awake, fight to keep the children away, but it don't work as soon as I close my eyes she comes to me. The girl with the blonde hair and double braids.

To be continued...


	23. The Specifics

Sorry this took so long I had no idea what to write, I really do hate the writers block when I get it. I had to really think on this chapter, finally Peeta is getting somewhere with the cure, just so you all know Wadera does have information on the cure so you'll just have to keep reading to find out what it is. Much love people.

Chapter 23

The Specifics

(Peeta's POV)

I sit there with my legs crossed, hands folded, The man in front of me is scribbling down every single word I'm saying and its really irritating me. He is so quiet, the only thing I can hear is the pencil scraping against the notebook. It's so early in the morning and I really don't want to deal with this right now. All I wanted to do was go back to the apartment complex and be there with her. I know for a fact she is going to go to the hospital when she gets up. She got to make sure that friend of hers is healing and is in good condition and she got to make sure that she is truly pregnant which I pray to god she's not. As much as I want to be a father, want to have a beautiful baby girl that looks, acts and talks like her mother, I just can't do it now, not when so many things are going wrong at this moment. All I can do is sit back and pray that I did not get her pregnant. I tap my foot against the wooden floor and sigh deeply, the scribbling of the pencil was getting more and more annoying. The doctor adjusted his glasses and looked up at me.

"So its your emotions that trigger the episodes?" He questions seriously, "Thats what you and Mr. Abernathy agreed on"

"Yeah, I feel it coming when I get angry or Jealousy and onces its there I just get so confused. I see things that I can't sort out, can't make sense of."

"What kind of things?"

"I see her do things, things that scary the crap out of me. Things I know she would never do and when she does them I want to defend myself."

"And when you defend yourself you end up hurting her?"

I nod "Yes"

"What kind of things does she do to you?"

I hate this I really do, talking about these things with him is bringing back a lot of memories. Its hard for me to talk about the flashbacks and the images I see. Every time I have them my common sense leaves me and I see things that confuse me, my brain has battles with itself; one part of it says snow is the good guy and I should listen to him, defend myself, but another part of it says fight, none of what I'm seeing is real. I get confused because both thoughts are so overwhelming.

"When I flashback she does multiple things to me, when I come back from the memory I know its not real because its something she would never do" I say.

"Give me an example of some sort" He shifts in his chair and straightens his glasses, that pen and paper at the ready. Does he really need to write down every single thing I say. I called him to help me find a cure not play therapists. He can help me I know he can thats why I called him, he's from the capitol, he knew Snow and what he was capable of doing to people, hell he's even worked on Patients that were tortured and beaten by Snow, he has to know something.

"When I flashback I have images of her stabbing me, laughing at me when I get whipped and tortured. Sometimes her face will morph into this horribly dog shape. I see her as a Mutt and I get scared because I feel that mutt is going to attack me, to rip me apart like they did in the arena. This is why I tell Katniss to run when I'm having a flashback, I really do see the large dog, its snarling and growling at me and when it takes a step towards me I want to arm myself and run a knife through its guts, but in reality its Katniss standing there and if I run a knife throught the Mutt it will be her and I'll kill her. Does that make snese." He nods.

"But in reality its Katniss trying to bring you back from the tainted memory?"

"Yes" I frown, why were we sitting here talking about things I already went over with Doctor Aurelius. I just wanted to cut right to the chase and find that damn cure. I was sick and tired of seeing things that weren't there, having to fight to remain calm, having to control my emotions every step of the way. It was hard to not get angry towards thing that she does and people around her do.

"When's the last time you had a episode?" Bryce asked me.

I thought for a moment, debating weather I should tell him that I had a small episode the night Katniss told me she thought she was pregnant. I shouldn't open my mouth. Katniss and I both agreed that it was for the best if nobody except her and I knew about the baby. If there even was a baby.

"I haven't had one since Haymitch and I were in that building searching for a cure, its been awhile," I lied.

Bryce remained silent, he scribbled on his notebook and crossed his left leg over his right. His eyes skimmed over the contents written in the notebook and I became really curious as to what he has written about me and who he was going to show this too. What if he decided I was a danger to myself and society, he'd lock me up an I'd never see Katniss or the unsure baby again. The thought about never meeting my son or daughter sickened me, I hated the thought of getting Katniss pregnant and then having her raise the baby alone. I could never be that kind of man that would just abandon his child and its mother. My hands folded into fist and I bit my lip so hard that the a small amount of blood filled my mouth and the coppery taste almost made me gag.

"Your previous doctor was Dr. Aurelius correct?"

I nod.

"Alright Peeta we know why you fall into the episodes:Emotions. You know how to prevent yourself from going into one:Self-control. Anger seems to be the big one. Whens the last time you inflicted damage on Katniss?"

I didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to got here because the last time I touched her in a violent way was when I pushed her down the stairs and caused her to miscarry my baby. No doctor knew what I have done, only close friends know I hurt her like that. I gripped the side of the chair and set my jaw.

"Peeta I can't help you unless I know everything"

"I pushed her down the stairs" I reply, my head hanging low, I refused to make eyes contact with him.

"Tell me what happened"

I shake my head and rose to my feet. I have had enough of him, sitting her telling him about my flashbacks, telling him how much I hurt Katniss. This is not the reason I called him. I didn't want to sit in a chair and listen to a therapist. I wanted someone that could hep me find a cure and Bryce was doing everything but that. If I wanted to tell someone how screwed up I am, then all I had to do was go to Dr. A and tell him how screwed up my life is.

"Peeta, please sit down" Bryce ordered calmly.

"No, I'm sick of this. I didn't come here to talk about the effects of the venom or what causes them or how I can prevent them. I know all that stuff. I just want a damn cure. I'm tired of hurting her, I'm tired of feeling like my head is going to explode. I want to be like everyone else and not have to worry about getting angry or jealous and end up hurting or killing the woman I'm in love with. You don't know what its like to be a freak" I yell.

Bryce shakes his head at me "Your not a freak Peeta, This was not your fault or Katniss fault. Your the victim in all this, Katniss is the victim in all this. It was unfortunate that the capitol took you and did those things to you..." He gets those words out before I cut him off.

"You have no damn idea as to what they did to me."

"Tell me, I'm right here, my job is to listen and help"

"Being tied to a chair, the cuts and small punches were the mild things. The cells they threw us in after they were done beating one of us were unbearable. The walls were covered in shit, excuse my French. The floors had large blood stains all over them. I couldn't sleep in a place like that, thats probably where the sleep deprivation came from. They didn't do to much the first couple of days we were there. I guess they wanted us to recover from the arena."

"Whose us?"

"There were multiple people that got captured by the capitol. Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta, me and some career that I didn't care about. Enobaria I think her name was. Anyway they had us in these cells, which were more like rooms, but they had bars for doors. There was one blanket and toilet and each room and like I said there was blood on the floors and crap on the walls. They would take us one at a time and beat us until we said something, sometimes I never said anything and I'd be in there for hours. I always knew when one of us return because they would scream and cry and I can see them through the bars as they past my cell. They would walk in I'd be in a corner and they would grab me by the hair and pull me out of the cell, sometimes they would bang my head against the cement because I struggled so much. I remember the stone cement walls and the small dim lights in the hallways; its was like we were in a dungeon; it reminded me of a dungeon. There were four torture rooms, there were brass plates on the walls and our names were carved into those plates, it was the same room every day just different things" It was becoming harder and harder for me to get the words out. What they did to me during my imprisonment was something I would never get over. They inflicted so much damage on me that I really don't know how I managed to survive.

"Did they use the venom right away?" Bryce asked.

"No, the first day I was there they sat me in a seat and asked me questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"Like where the rebels were or if our escape was planned, they asked me things I knew nothing about."

Bryce remains silent.

"The beatings started a couple days later, they would ask me something and when I told them I didn't know they would beat me. They would use their fists and feet. There was this one peacekeeper that took pictures. I was laying there one day covered in blood from head to toe. He had his buddy hold the camera while he posed beside me. There were always two peacekeepers in each room. They would hold my head underwater, cut circles into my chest and arms. They would even take turns kicking me between the legs, laughing and telling me I will never get a chance to reproduce. It really started getting bad when they asked questions about Katniss. I wouldn't say a word when they mention or asked questions about her."

"Is that when the venom started?" Bryce asked.

"Yes, They would strap me to a cool metal table. It kind of reminded me of a hospital table, although it was pure rusty metal. they would show me images of Katniss, show me clips of her out there fighting. They strapped the needle into my veins and refused to take it out until I told them what they wanted to know. I just kept silent and thats when they pumped me with the green shit"

"The venom" Bryce states.

I nod, "Yes, they would give me small doses at first and then the madder they got the more venom they would inject. The beating got worse, they fed me nothing but bread and very little water. There was this one time in my cell where I tried to kill myself because the beating got so bad. I just wanted them to stop I couldn't deal with it any longer. I tied the thin blanket around my neck and squeezed. I would of succeed if it weren't for the peacekeepers. They took my blanket and my baggy shirt and pants. I had nothing but my boxers and I stayed half-naked for days. They refused to give me cloths because they were scare I would kill myself. I guess the really needed me alive"

"Do you still feel suicidal when you flashback?"

"No, I don't want to die now, but sometimes I think like that. I think that she'd be better off without me"

"Why?"

"Because I hurt her, I hit her, I call her names and she doesn't deserve being hurt."

"It would hurt her if you did act or think about suicide."

"Like I said I think she would be better off without me. I tried leaving her, breaking up with her, telling her I don't wont her, but none of that works"

"Because you love her too much"

"Yes I love her" I smirk a bit and run a hand through my hair. "Love doesn't cover it, I'm not just in love with her I...I don't even know if theres a word out there to begin to describe as to how much she means to me. It's so much more than love."

"Love is a powerful Emotion Peeta Remember that"

"Sometimes it hurts to be this much in love with her. It just seems to good to be true"

"Its normal to be in love with someone so much that it hurts, be careful Peeta"

"I will I just...want a cure to this thing in my skull. I want so badly to be normal"

"We'll try" Bryce smiles at me and stands up from his chair, he closes his notebook and sets it on the chair he had been sitting on, "Thats enough for today"

I nod and rub my temples in frustration it has been a long and tiring morning and my day was just beginning. I had training this afternoon which I was not looking forward to it because Rend thought it would be a good idea to pair me up with a woman that knows martial arts. I shake hands with the doctor and exited his building, feeling like nothing has been accomplished. I"m sick and tired of talking about my problems and have nothing be done about it. I walked down the capitol streets with my head down. It was incredibly windy outside and I know I should of called a cab, but the defense building was only five minutes away so it wouldn't kill me to walk. It started to rain 3 minutes into my walk and I just stopped and stared up at the dark rainy clouds that were rolling in from every direction. I'm scared to go back to the building because I know Katniss went to the hospital to check on Hass, I know while she was there she took a real pregnancy test, not one of them cheap ones from the store, but a real accurate one that gave you proper readings. I'm scared to become a father I feel like I'm not good enough for it.

What if I never find a cure and am stuck with this shit forever, What would my daughter say when she comes home from school one day and finds daddy beating the hell out of her mommy. What if I attack my daughter. If Katniss is pregnant I have to protect her and this baby and I can only do that by not being in their lives, But what kind of person would I be if I turned my back on my daughter and the woman that means the most to me. I know what Katniss would do; she'd fall into a depression, one Gale and her friends could never get her out of. I entered the warm cozy building just in time too, thunder started clapping through the sky and a down poor began. I took the elevator to our floor and entered the apartment. Katniss was sitting at the kitchen table next to her good friend Hass. They both smile at me as I entered the kitchen and I shoot a smile back. Katniss approached me and took my wet jacket off, we kissed each other quickly and she scurried back to the kitchen table.

"Hi Peeta" Hass greeted kindly.

"Hi, How are you feeling?" I ask.

"Better now that I'm out of that horrible place. I hate hospitals"

"Me too" I agreed.

Hass gets up from the table and shoots Katniss a friendly smile, "Well kitty I'll see you down in the training room"

"Wait you can't be serious, your too hurt to train" Katniss frowns.

"I know, but I can watch" Hass smiles again, pats Katniss on the top of her head, nods in my direction and is out the door. I wait till he is out of ear shot, until the door is completely closed. Katniss sits across from me, hands folded, feet tapping the floor nervously. Her breathing starts getting heavy and sweat seems to be dripping from her forehead. She is scared I can tell, her fear only means one thing: She's pregnant.

"Are you?" I ask her seriously.

She closes her eyes and nods her head "Yes"

I nod my head multiple times unsure if I should be happy or angry with myself for getting her pregnant like this, but one thing is for certain nobody was going to find out she was pregnant, not one single person. I take her in my arms hug her, kiss her and tell her everything is going to be alright. If we were back home in district 12, safe and sound when she told me this I'd be the happiest man alive.

"Hass is looking better" I say breaking the sad mood of hers.

"Yeah he still limps and has a hard time getting around but that will heal in time. Anyway how did your meeting go?"

I frown and shake my head in disappointment. "I might stop seeing him"

"Why?"

"Because all he wants to do is talk about what happened. He's forcing me to relive my torture by telling him the details. I don't want to talk about it. I want to look for this cure. If I wanted to talk I'd talk to Dr. Aurelius."

"Talking does help" She says.

"Anyway we got bigger things to worry about" I say, my eyes wander to her flat stomach and butterflies filled mine. In a couple months she would be showing and all of Panem will know the star-crossed lovers made a baby. Everyone: including Wadera. Hopefully by that time he would be dead and gone, I'd have a cure and we would be back home in district 12 living out our peaceful lives. Katniss and I ate lunch and then made our way down to the training center, the first thing I see is Gale sparring a huge black-haired guy. Delly was on the sides watching and smiling encouragingly at Gale. Rend and Johanna were deep in conversation, I half expected Rend to come over and start training us hard as so as he saw us, but he merely nodded his head. Training hasn't begun, but once it did I guarantee he would start with us. Hass was sitting on the bench handing out towels to the people who got to practice early and was dripping in sweat.

"I'm gonna go see Hass" Katniss said and flashed me a smile.

"Alright I'm going to get to practice early." I reply and lean in for a quick kiss. We went our separate ways and I decided on hitting the punching bag today I wrapped my fists in white gloves and began giving the bag left and right jabs. It hit it for a good while, putting all my thoughts and feelings into my punches. Finally after what seemed like hours of punching the young woman named Naomi grabbed hold of the punching bag, stopping its movements. She poked her head around the bag and smiled at me.

"Morning Peeta" She greets.

"Good morning" I greeted back.

"Ready for todays lesson?" She asks.

I shake my head "I'm not feeling up for a lesson today" Truth was I didn't even want to train today; I had a lot on my mind thanks to the doctor. He made me remember things I really didn't want to remember. There was an awkward silence between Naomi and Me.

"Are you alright Peeta?" Naomi asks breaking the intense silence.

"Not really" I mutter and continue hitting the punching bag.

"Alright well I hope you feel better, whatever bothering you I hope it goes away" And with that said Naomi disappears out of my sight, leaving me alone to work out my frustration and anger I have towards that doctor. I hit it for a couple more minutes before Rend's low deep voice boomed across the room. He ordered everyone in a circle. There was only a handful of people here today, not many for some reason. usually the room was packed, but it was almost empty; something was not right.

"Training has been canceled due to threats an attempted attacks on the building. We are setting up a security line around the building to ensure its safety. A couple hours ago a woman was caught sneaking into the building, she was armed and well...I wouldn't really say dangerous, stupid is more like it. Anyway she was carrying a tape addressed to certain members of the squad. Now I want Homes, Carlos and Naomi guarding the rear, Gale, Dread, Morse guarding the front. Katniss and Peeta come with me to the lobby office there is something you must see." Rend nod to everyone and they all spilt up. I saw Gale whisper something into Delly's ear, she frowned, nodded and the two of them kissed. I wasn't worried for her because I knew Whatever it was Gale said to her would keep her out of harms way.

Rend led us out of the training room and into the elevator. My heart was pounding in my chest, the tape was addressed to us I just know it, why else would he want to see us, why else would he not position us to defend the building. Katniss slipped her hand into fine and laced our fingers, she was shaking out of fear and all I could think about was defending her and the baby. I didn't know what was going on, but I sure as hell was going to find out and do everything in my power to protect her. The elevator door opened and we followed Rend across the lobby, I glanced out the large window and saw nothing was raindrops smearing across the glass. It was down pouring. We were led into a large office, there was a huge desk, camera in the corner and there was a bunch of papers sitting on the desk. It kind of reminded me something you would see at the police station, when the officers question there suspects. My eyes came to a rest on the person who was handcuffed and sitting at the desk. I took a good look at her and my mouth dropped to the ground, anger filled my body and all I wanted to do was rip her head right off her body.

"Peeta honey I Missed you"

"You know her?" Rend asks.

Before I get a chance to speak, she answers him for me "Of course he does I've worked for him for two years."

"Why are you even here?" Katniss asks her and I can see the rage in her eyes.

"I'm not talking to you bitch"

"Don't talk to her like that and by the way your fired for everything that you done to her"

"What! Peeta! baby!"

"I'm not your god damn baby GET that through you damn skull" I snap and pound my fists against the desktop, she squeals as I get in her face, yelling and screaming anything I can think of "I tried to be nice to you, to let you down easy. I didn't want to hurt your feelings by giving you a ignorant rejection, but now you leave me now choice, get it through your head I'm not in love with you, I'll never be in love with you. Your not the one I gave the ring too, your not the one I'm living with, Your not the one I'm having sex with" Katniss face turned a million shades of red as I said the last part. I would apologize to her later, but right now I can't help by scream at Ceal. Why was she violent here, it was random her popping up out of nowhere. I never wanted to see her again.

"Peeta you don't mean it" Ceal says with a frown.

"The hell I don't You don't mean anything to me. Your just a worker I hired and I know what you did" I yell.

"What? I didn't do nothing but love you" Ceal cried.

I grab her throat and thats when Rend pulled me off of her and backed me against the wall. Usually I would never get violent with a woman, but after everything Ceal done to Katniss while I was anyway; I really couldn't help it.

"You had your damn brother try and rape her, you beat the hell out of her and I'm going to beat the hell out of you" I tried pushing Rend off of me but he just wouldn't budge. I thrashed against his grip and just as I was about to break free Katniss's small hands came to a rest on both sides of my face. I was literally seeing red and these people around me were hell bent on killing me. I had to stop them from doing so, The mutt in front of me had her hands on my face and she was saying something that I wasn't paying attention too.

"Why is his eyes turning black?" The large commander guy asked.

"Peeta, please come back to me baby please. I love you" The mutt says.

"Shut up" I scream and push her to the ground. She scurries away from me and the large commander blocks my movements. The blonde woman sitting in the chair that was handcuffed look absolutely terrified of me.

"What did you do to him bitch" The blonde screamed.

"Just shut up" Mutt yelled.

The commander had his hands against my shoulders, that was the only thing keeping me restrained. Suddenly I lifted my fists and punched him as hard as I could in the nose. There was a sound of bone cracking and the commander was on his knees clutching his nose as blood emerged from it. The mutt was in the corner crying and begging me to come back. I don't know what she means I am back, I never went anywhere. I lunged forward and wrapped my hands around her neck and squeezed as hard as I could. She thrashed against my grip and tried clawing me in the face. Finally I was going to kill her and complete my mission the president had given me. Once my mission was complete I would be able to go home to my family and this whole thing would be over. Just as the light was about to leave her eyes, something hard and metal hit me in the back of the head and everything went black.

(Katniss POV)

I gasped, coughed, sobbed and cursed as Rend hit Peeta over the head with a chair. The air was returning to my lungs, but the sobbing refused to quit. I slid back against the wall until I was on the ground, my knees to my chest. Peeta had an episode and it was all Ceal's fault. I bolted from my sitting position, crossed the room and began pounding Ceal, I gave her a right and left. My punches and slaps echoed the room. Rend pulled me off and place handcuffs around my wrist. I shot him a dirty look as he led me to the opposite side of Ceal.

"Sit down Everdeen and control that temper of yours. Now this woman is carrying a tape addressed to you two I suggest you put your personal feelings aside and listen to her" Rend orders.

Ceal grins "What makes you think I'm going to talk"

"Because you won't have a choice, because I'll let Katniss kill you" Rend threatened.

Ceal was stupid enough to believe anything. She shook in fear and nodded her head multiple times. "Okay okay its not my fault I was forced to come here. The boss recruits people You know. Goes from district to district looking for future peacekeepers. York he made me go to the meeting, said if I didn't go he would hurt me more"

"She's talking about Wadera" I said to Rend.

"Yes thats his name the boss. We went to the meeting and they explained to us that we were forming an army to overthrow the capitol get things back to the way they were. York loved the hunger games and the ruling with an iron fist . Look if I'm going to open my mouth about all this I want protection" She hissed.

"Fine tell us everything and we will see to it they never come near you" Rend says.

Ceal takes a deep breath and continues "They said bitch Katniss was pubic enemy number one. York joined because he hates you and wants to see you suffer. York, Zeeks, Parva and Myself all joined, but of course I had no choice I was forced"

"You lie" I yell "You would of join them no matter what, just execute her Rend" Hopefully this threat would get more information out of her.

"Yes, yes alright I joined them" She admits.

"Why?" Rend questions.

"Because I wanted to see her die" She points in my directions, "York said he'd ask Wadera to spare Peeta. I thought maybe Peeta would come to love me with time"

"He'd never fucking love you" I curse.

"I know, but when York asked Wadera, he said he would spare Peeta and I explained my love situation, thats when he brought up the tracker tracker venom."

My heart sank, Wadera did know things about the tracker venom. He told me there was a cure to it. At first I thought he was lying to me the night he came into my hotel room to kill me, but now that Ceal is bringing it up I really don't think he was lying. If he was as close to Snow as he said he was, then he had to know things about the venom, about the Mutts the capitol created, about everything. I look over at Peeta, who was still out cold on the ground. He was laying on his stomach, head cocked to the side. He was going to feel guilty when he wakes up, but everything was going to be alright.

"A cure did he say anything about curing Peeta?"

"Too many questions I'm tired and my nails are ruined. I need a shower"

"ANSWER ME!" I shout and my anger towards her even made Rend flinch.

"Yes, yes he said he was going to cure Peeta after he killed you. Cure him and then injected him again with the venom; he said he was going to wipe every trace of memory he had of you and put fake memories of me and him in his brain. That what Wadera's promise was to me."

I chuckled ignorantly "And you believe him. Tell me Ceal what did you have to do for him in return?"

"Come in here, deliver this tape and then shoot up the place. He said I had to kill 10 of you; If I killed 10 people then Peeta was mine"

I looked at Rend "How many casualties?"

"None, we stopped her before she could pull the gun out. We disarmed her and now here she is awaiting to be transferred to prison"

"P-prison. No I can't go to jail" Ceal cried.

"Thats the best protection we have to offer" Rend chuckled.

"You put me in jail and I won't tell you what their planing to do tonight" Ceal threatened.

"All we have to do is watch the tape" Rend said.

Ceal pouted and folded her hands across her chest "I hope you die Katniss, He's going to make it fun and your going to have fun watching your loved ones die"

The door opened and three very large looking guards came in and hauled Ceal away. She kicked and screamed, begging them to reconsider and not put her in jail. Rend help me carry Peeta back up to the apartment and once we had him in bed. I broke down completely right in front of Rend. He just stood there rubbing the back of his head, unsure of what to do, finally he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me.

"Why are you so upset Everdeen? This is what we have been training for and after observing you and Peeta in training I'd say Wadera is 50 feet under. You guys really didn't need training to begin with, you know what to do its getting you in back into shape thats the problem"

"I'm never going to be in shape" I cry.

"Is that why your crying?" He questions "Because you think your weak"

"No Rend I'm pregnant" I blurt out before I can stop myself. I didn't know how I was going to protect myself, Peeta, Gale, Delly, Hass and my unborn baby from tonights assault, chances are somebody I love was going to die and there wasn't a thing I can do about it.

To be continued...


	24. Fight and Flight

I know some of you really don't want Katniss to be pregnant and I'm really sorry for making her pregnant, I really don't think I have the heart to kill their baby twice, I think they deserve a bit of happiness. Please don't stop reading or nothing because I promise you won't be sorry with my choices. I'm really sorry this is taking forever I had no idea what to write. Writers block has taken its toll on me, but don't fret the story will continue.

Chapter 24

Fight and Flight

(Peeta's POV)

I wake up to a splitting headache, I have a strong urge to throw up everywhere. It felt like my entire skull was on fire. I knew I had an episode not to long ago, but I'm not sure as too what I did, Last thing I remember was screaming and yelling at Ceal and then something heavy nailed me in the back of my skull. I hope to god I didn't hurt Katniss or the baby, I could care less if I hurt Ceal. My anger towards her was unlike anything I have ever felt before. I almost hit a woman without having to have a flashback. Thats not the person I want to be, I don't want to be an abusive man, but I know somewhere deep down inside my body there is apart of me that is dark and dangerous and the hijacking doesn't have anything to do with it. I have never wanted to hit Katniss while I was in a normal state of mine, but I certainly wanted to hit and hurt Ceal. I met her 2 years ago and she never used to be this bad. Of course she has always been infatuated with me, but it was nothing more than a simple crush. I never knew she had a brother until recently and it wasn't until recently she started acting like this horrible human being. I knew of her jealousy towards Katniss, but I didn't know that jealousy went as far as hatred. I just can't see her doing these things, going into a building, trying to kill people, becoming apart of the peacekeepers; it had to be all her brother. She was an annoying piece of work, preppy, loud in the voice, Blonde and extremely annoying, but she was not a murderer. She didn't have that kind of hatred. In the two years I've known her; she had never had that urge to kill. I'm glad I took the time to get to know my co-workers and what they are like. I sat up in bed and immediately my head began to pound hard in my skull; I felt my stomach turn and before I know it I'm running to the bathroom puking my guts out.

It's the venom making me sick, sometimes after an episode my head would hurt so bad that it would cause severe headaches and those headaches would make me throw up like this. I couldn't stand the pressure that was pounding in my head. I heaved and heaved until nothing else came up and then I dry heaved. The bathroom door opened, but I did nothing to lift my head out of the toilet. I continued coughing and dry heaving, my face turned crimson red and sweat dripped down my neck and forehead. I felt her small hand rub my back as I shut the toilet seat and rested my head flat on the surface of it. She got up and moved around the bathroom, coming back down next to me, wiping the sweat that was forming on my head with a towel.

"I should be taking care of my pregnant girlfriend, not the other way around" I joked with a scratchy voice.

"Shh, I don't mind, just relax" She says and kisses my damp forehead, "Come back to bed. You need to relax"

She helps me up and leads me to the bedroom. I crawl into bed and place my forearm over my eyes. The pounding will not stop and I'm completely miserable. Katniss throws a blanket over me and kisses my forehead. She was about to turn and leave, but my hand shoots out and I stop her from moving another inch away from me. I didn't want her to go. I needed her to stay here with me so I could keep an eye on her and the baby. I wasn't about to let them out of my sight. Like I'm really in any condition to take care of her, I'm never able to take care of her; she always has to take care of me.

"Please stay" I beg

"Peeta, you need to relax. I need to meet commander Rend downstairs and watch that tape Ceal brought in." She replies.

"I'll come with you then" I try to sit up and as soon as I do pain shoots through my head and I squeeze my eyes shut and rub my temples. Katniss forces me to lay down and brings the blanket over my body once again. "I want to take care of you and the baby" If the peacekeepers were planning on attacking tonight I didn't want Katniss out of my sight. I wanted her safe and sound in my arms. Not only that, I wanted to go downstairs with her and watch the tape ,see if I get anything out of it. I pull Katniss towards the bed and she climbs in, I have to scoot over a bit in order for her to fit, but once she is nice and snuggled in my arms I start planting kisses on her forehead and cheeks. "I'm really sorry about my episode today" I apologize sweetly and kiss her on the lips.

"It's not your fault, besides I wasn't in any danger"

We were silent for a good while, I sat there holding and stroking her and every once in awhile I'd dip my head down and steal a kiss. Eventually she feel asleep and thats when I laid my hands on her stomach and stroked the forming child inside her. I wouldn't be able to feel it kick just yet because it was merely an egg. I rolled her over, gently so I wouldn't wake her up. I pushed the covers off of her revealing her long baggy t-shirt, Flipping up her shirt I studied her flat smooth stomach, it was not swollen yet, but in a couple months it will be. I places my hand on her stomach and rubbed.

"I know I'm talking to an egg right now, but I have to promise you that I will do everything in my power to make sure You and your mommy make it out of this alive. I promise little one that your mommy and you will not be touched. As long as theres breath in my lungs I'll protect the both of you. I love you baby" I kiss her bare stomach and pull her shirt back down. I cradle her in my arms and soon I have drifted off to sleep.

We wake up around 8 at night, the sun has gone down completely and both of us feel panic begin to rise in our bodies, what if they attacked already, would we have even heard the the gunfire or whatever it was they were using. We throw clothes on and rush down to Rends office, My head feels completely better now, no more throwing up and no more hijacking episodes for today. As long as I didn't see Ceal I was good. It was her fault that I fell into an episode to begin with. She just couldn't keep her big mouth shut. I knock on the door and almost immediately it opens. Rend allows us to enter the room full of people. There were 2 commanders Creft and Rend, A handful of guards and President Paylor herself.

"Ah Peeta, Katniss we were just about to send someone to fetch you two."

"We are here to watch the tape that was addressed to us." I say.

"It's a little gruesome and we are still trying to find out what his message to us means" Rend says, his arms are crossed over his chest and he is leaning against the wall with a smug look on his face. Paylor motions for Katniss and I to take a seat, which we do. There is a quiet chatter going around the room, but I choose to Pay no attention to it. I slip my hand into Katniss's and wait for them to quiet down and slip in the tape that Ceal had on her. We spent a good half hour talking about security improvements and what We were going to do if Wadera actually decided to make a move on the city. We had to be extremely cautious when it came to our citizens, innocent blood was not allowed to spill, so it was decided that we would send out a warning message to the people in the capitol and tell them about the current situation. Rend finally was allowed to slid in the tape and press play. Katniss lifted her head off my shoulders and squeezed my hand. It was dark at first and then the camera came into view and a young woman no more than 19 came into view, she had brown hair that was damp and frizzy, there was a piece of thin tape going across her mouth, her eyes were shut and it was obvious she had been asleep for some time now. Her hands were taped to the chair and sweat dripped from her forehead. A large figure stood in front of the camera and everything went black for a couple of seconds, he took a step back and I could feel Katniss give and involuntary shake. It was Wadera. He was dressed in a tuxedo and his brown hair was slicked back.

"My dear president of Panem, if you are watching this it means you have shot that little blonde headed girl and she has fulfilled her purpose in sending you this message. I have so much to say and so very little time, I have no idea where to begin. Lets start with your peaceful little city and districts; The districts were made to serve the capitol not be equal to it and have been servants for many decades until you come along and ruin everything our ancestors worked so hard to build. We do not owe these people anything, they were put on this earth to serve us and serve us they will do. They mean nothing to the world and should not be treated as equals, they are our entertainment, our laborers and once the capitol is fully restored every single one of them that sided with you people will be put to death" Wadera smiles and straitens his tie; he runs a hand through the young girls hair and smacks her hard in order to wake her up. She gasps and her brown eyes spring open. Wadera smiles and pulls the tape off her mouth.

"Where am I" The woman panics.

Wadera ignores her, kisses her swollen lips and puts the tape back on her mouth, ignoring the cries and whimpers coming from the back of her throat. He turns back to the camera and smiles again. "I want all of you, all of Panem to know that I mean business, that I am hell bent on killing every single one of you if you do not cooperate. President Paylor you can make this so much easier if you resign from your position and allow me to take over as rightful heir. I know everything about you Paylor since you were stupid enough to appoint me your assistant. I know everything about your districts, your pathetic defense team and let me assure you, you guys don't stand a chance against my band of peacekeepers. The rightful followers of Panem, the peacekeepers are the rightful law figures not the police officers you have stationed across the districts. Believe me when I say there are a lot of peacekeepers hell bent on setting things straight. Now that you know we mean business lets go on to issue number two." He pauses a bit, his face falls, brows dipped and nothing but hatred spread across his features. I look down at Katniss; she looks like she is about to throw up. I kiss her temple and place my arm around her.

"You don't have to watch anymore" I whisper in her ear.

"I have too" She whispers back.

She is terrified, I can tell by the way her body is shaking, she pulls her hand out of mine and wraps both her arms around our baby. She is scared for our baby's life and in that moment I knew for a fact that I did not want her going up against this man and his band of peacekeepers. I don't care if she feels the need to be with me every step of the way, there was no damn way I was going to let her near him, even if he did have a cure for my hijacking. I tune back into the TV when I hear the word mockingjay come out of the bastards mouth.

"Your mockingjay bitch can no longer help you. Listen to me people of Panem, Your mockingjay is weak and useless. She is nothing more than a cold blooded killer. Mockingjay if you are watching this I want you to listen to every single word I am saying. Your dead and everyone around you is dead. I know you Katniss Everdeen The good president Snow took the time to get information about you during the wars. Your scum Katniss and I'm going to kill you like scum. You can join sweet little Primrose and Daddy soon, but not before I make you suffer. Let me demonstrate what I am going to do to you and your pathetic family" He disappears from sight and walks out of the cameras view. Katniss is struggling and all I want to do is usher her out of the room.

"This is where it gets a little violent" Rend says from across the room.

"Yeah so if you have a weak stomach please exited to your left" Creft added pointing to the exit. A couple guards got up and left, Rend chuckled and mumbled the word pansy asses under his breath.

"Katniss You don't have to watch this it might be hard for you" Paylor says looking over her shoulder.

"I want to" Katniss says in a low tone of voice and I knew she was lying just by the way she was speaking. There was a slight tremble in her voice as she spoke and this only made me hold her tighter. I turned my attention back to the screen just in enough time to see Wadera reappear on the screen, three peacekeepers were following him dragging four other people behind them. They were all chained together, hands and legs locked, eyes blindfolded. The woman sitting in the chair sees Wader enter with these people and she is going ballistic.

"We are going to do a little skit" Wadera grins, "I want you to know just how much I hate you mockingjay. I want you to know what I plan to do to you. You will die this time I can promise you that. Lets pretend shall we." He points to the woman in the chair, "Lets say that is you. That older fellow is your mentor, the older woman is your mother, the young dark haired man is your best friend and the young man at the end with the blond hair is your lover" it was creepy as to how much Wadera made these people look like us. There was three men and one woman and it looked like the woman in the chair knew them all because she was screaming, crying, thrashings and begging, but Wadera couldn't hear her words because of the tape across her mouth.

"I just want to show you what I want to do to you and I want to show the people of Panem that I will kill them if they cross me, that I am not afraid to kill innocent people." He unchains the woman first and forces her on her knees in front of the woman in the chair. "I'll kill your mother first. I'll chop off her hair" He takes the large knife and cuts chunks of the woman's blonde hair off. She cries as pieces of her hair fall to the ground. "Then I'll shove this sword through her neck" And he did just that he shoved that large blade through the woman's neck and blood started to pool on the floor. The woman in the chair squealed.

"Shh Darling the mockingjay is to blame. Next Ms. Everdeen I'll kill your Mentor" He takes out a silver gun from his pocket and doesn't think twice, he shoot the older man in the skull. He flops dead instantly. "And your best friend, aka cousin" He shoot the one resembling Gale "And your lover" Katniss bolts from the room, her breathing is heavy and all eyes are on her as she takes off. I stand from the chair and do my best in going after her. She was in the bathrooms down the hall heaving either because of the baby or because of the blood on the screen or because that Wadera just killed our look alike and it really bothered her. I entered the bathroom not caring thats its the women's bathroom. She is hunched over the toilet and puking her guts out. I kneel down next to her, hold back her hair and rub her back.

"It's my fault" She sobs, "That family is dead, God Peeta we got to do something"

"I know and I will I promise."

"I want it to be over, I want your cure, him dead. I want things right. I refuse to have our baby be born under the command of another President Snow"

"It won't happen I"m going to kill him" I promise her.

She shakes her head. "No I am"

"No your not" I tell her and she shoots me a dirty glare.

"You got to protect the baby" I place my hands against her stomach and rub our forming child. "Our baby is more important than fighting. I wouldn't let you fight him, besides its my fight really, he got my cure"

"How do you even know he isn't bluffing about it?" She asks.

"Because I just have this feeling" I take her into my arms and hug her. We eventually walk out of the bathroom. I tell her to go upstairs and wait for me. There is no way I am going to allow her to finish watching this gruesome tape. She obeys me without any argument. We kiss and go our separate ways. I make my way back into the room and as soon as I open the door all eyes are on me. I quietly walk across the room and take a seat next to Creft, the screen that was once showing the movie was black and without picture. Paylor stood in front of it with her hands in front of her and a grim look on her face.

"Mr. Mellark glad you can join us again, is Miss. Everdeen okay?"

"She'll be fine" I assured her.

"Good now off to discussion. I want round the clock security all around the city day and night, important buildings and above all our broadcasting station. He must not be allowed to broadcast this tape to the entire nation; it will send people into panic."

I raise my eyebrows in confusion why in gods green earth would Wadera broadcast something like this to the people of Panem. He got his point around, I know now he wants to kill us and he won't stop until he does just that. This has to end here and now. I stand from my sitting position and clear my throat, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. All eyes were on me again as I make my way to the front, standing next to Paylor I looked at all the concerned faces in the crowd. All of them were unsure of what I was up to. I loved my ability to win over the crowd with words.

"I will kill him, not Katniss" I annouced.

"Mr. Mellark the mockingjay is needed for this mission. She is needed for so many reasons" Paylor explains.

"I won't allow her she is..." My voice trails off and I stare up into Paylor's curious eyes. She is waiting for me to finish my sentence, but I'm not so sure If I should tell them about my baby or not. If I tell them and they agree to send Katniss somewhere safe then I'll do it. I don't see president Paylor sending a pregnant woman on a life or death mission. "She's pregnant and I don't want her anywhere near him, besides you said it your self she should be in a safe house, she's done her duty, she lured Wadera out into the open so you could see his true colors. Now let her be."

"She volunteered for this, We did not force her" Paylor hisses, "So don't make it sound like we are forcing her to do anything. She chose to stay, she chose to train in the training room because of you Peeta" I have never heard Paylor use my full name before and by the way she says it makes goose bumps form on my arms, makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"I know its my fault. I have fought and argued with her. I'm desperate for her to get out of here, but she wont listen to me. I have no choice but to force her out of here, but I can't do that unless someone helps me, besides wasn't our plan all along to let her stay for a bit and then force her out" I say.

"we'll help" says two familiars voice from the door opens and every ones eyes turned to the intruder. Gale stood there in his black boots, camouflaged pants and shirt, he held a gun on his shoulders and was biting on a tooth pick. Johanna was dressed similar but her pants were pitch black matching her boots and she wore a tank top. She shoots a seductive glance in Rend's direction and touched her index finger to her mouth.

"Solider Hawthorne, Solider Mason return to your post immediately!" Rend screamed

"Don't you use that tone of voice with me Dilly or you are not getting any tonight and the next night and the night after that. I'll make you watch" Johanna hissed and I felt myself turn red, but wasn't nearly as red as Rend. Words can't describe as too how red his face was. Leave it to Johanna to embarrass the shit out of the poor guy. The other guards in the room started bursting out laughing and make wolf noises in Rend's direction. Paylor held up her hand and there was an immediate silence.

"Please Speak" She told Johanna and Gale.

"Peeta's right Katniss should not taken part in this if she is having a baby" Johanna said.

Gale's mouth dropped and he shot me a deadly look. Apparently he did not know that I got his best friend pregnant for the second time, but now was not the time to yell and scream at me for doing such a thing. I'd hear about it later, that was a guaranteed promise.

"Miss Everdeen refuses to leave" Paylor points out, "And I already gave her permission to fight. She had a choice and her choice was to stay here with Mr. Mellark"

"By force then" Gale says, "Besides madam I got a person of my own I want to get out of here"

"Maybe a public evacuation is in order" Paylor mumbles.

"Madam?" A guard looks at her

"I don't want innocent people dying if he decides to invade us. I want as many people out of this city if they are willing to go. I want a live broadcast aired tomorrow morning explaining the situation."

"What if they attack tonight?" Rend asks.

"Then we'll be ready" Nothing else was said, Paylor marches out of the room in a formal way, three of the guards following her suit. The room began to empty and all that was left was Johanna, Rend, Gale and I. We all took a seat and glanced at each other.

"Katniss will never leave bread-boy" Johanna comments.

"She'll have no choice."

Gale snaps, "How could you get her pregnant again. You son of a bitch"

"It was an accident, it wasn't planned I..."

"Shut up, just shut up this is going to be hard, forcing her to leave you again. She'll die this time, especially now since she is pregnant and fucking wear protection if your going to bang her"

"I don't want her here Gale. I never wanted her here" I hiss back.

"She loves you way to fucking much thats why she is here, because you made her fall so deeply in love with you, she can't help it!" Gale screamed

We both stand up and get into each others faces, Johanna stands up with us and gets in between us. "Calm down boys, lets sit, think and come up with a plan"

(Katniss's POV)

I lay on the bathroom floor, my head hurts, stomach is upset and I'm really dizzy. This baby is really kicking my ass; When I was pregnant in district 12 I never went to the bathroom to throw-up this many times. I guess in a way it was good. It meant the baby was growing and continue to grow safe and sound inside me. I heaved into the toilet one final time and rose to my feet. I swaggered into the bedroom and plopped face first on the bed. I had half a mind to roll over and dial Haymitch and Effie's hotel number. I hadn't spoken with them in so long I almost forgot they were there and besides Haymitch was supposed to be helping with Peeta's cure. I can't believe Peeta really thought this was his fight and his fight only, that Wadera had his venom cure and that he should be the one to kill Wadera for that medicine. Personally I think Wadera was just saying he had the cure just to lure Peeta out in the open. It was the perfect plan, Peeta would fall for his tricks, Wadera would kidnap him and I would have no choice but to go after him. He'd use Peeta and all of my other friends just to get to me.

I couldn't stop thinking about that video, The people that lost their lives because of me. Peeta says its not my fault, but I think otherwise I had gotten so many chances to kill him; the party, the hotel room, the hospital parking lot, but each time I stood there like an idiot, frozen in fear. Now I think I know why: The baby. The doctor had said I was 4 weeks pregnant. I had been here almost five weeks already, Peeta has been here longer. I was curious to find out at what point we were able to conceive a baby. I thought about it for the longest time and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. He got me pregnant the night of the party. The first night Wadera tried to kill us, the night we had gotten back together after a couple days of being apart.

I laid on the bed for a couple of minutes before hearing the front door to the complex open. I rose from the fluffy mattress and stumbled my way into the living room. Peeta was leaned up against the door frame in the process of kicking off his shoes. I watched him rub his temples in frustration and then stroll over towards me, he took a seat next to me on the couch and folded his hands in his lap. I reached up and ran my hands through his hair.

"Did you watch the rest of the tape? I question.

"No, but we all came to an agreement" Peeta replies.

"Which was?"

"Well were going to see if they leave us alone for the night and if they do then first thing tomorrow morning we are going to broadcast a warning message to the people of the capitol. We will explain the current situation and let the people decided for themselves if they want to risk remaining here with a psycho on the loose. Wadera is bound to attack this building looking for you, but by the time he gets here it will be too late. You'll be long gone."

He just ripped my heart into two pieces. "Your not sending me away again. I won't leave you. You cannot make me"

"Katniss, think about the baby"

"I am thinking about her and I'm thinking she needs a father. We've been through this over and over again Peeta. We are stronger together."

I can tell he is getting frustrated by the look in his eyes. "Your going to that safe house that was the plan all along. We had no intention on letting you fight pregnant or not"

I stand up from the couch, back away from him and stomp my foot on the ground like a little kid. He never had any intentions of letting me fight. This was all just one big trick. I start to walk towards the door, but he grabs me by the wrists and forces me to stop any movements.

"Let go of me, you lied to me again!" I scream.

"I know" He says.

I yank my hand out of his grip and start walking towards the door again. I am beyond angry at him, at Paylor, At Rend. All of them allowed me to train and believe I was going to fight Wadera, but in the end it turns out that they lied to me, that this train bound for the safe house in the mountains was my fate all along.

"Why did you lie to me" I asked whipping around and staring daggers at him.

"I didn't want you to suspect anything. I had to keep you calm and focus until the time was just right."

"You have no right to lie to me."

He was getting angry now because of my stubbornness, "I have every single right to protect my fiancee and my baby!"

"And I have every right to be here with you."

He turns away from me and hits the living room wall as hard as he can. I jump at his sudden outburst in anger and back away. "You...You never think I can do things by myself do you!"

"Whats that supposed to mean?" I spit out.

"You know damn well what it means Katniss! Do you really think I'm that weak that I can't defend myself, that I'm automatically going to die if I get caught up in a fight? I'm not fucking weak and I'm so sick of every single person thinking like that. I'm not the goddamn woman in the relationship, I don't need supervision all the time. I'm not just going to lay down and let these people kill me, believe it or not I can fight." He pauses for a moment and there is an intense silence, he turns and looks at me and I can see all the hurt and anger in his eyes. He is not even having a flashback.

"I never thought that you were weak" I say, I suddenly approach him and lay my hands on his tense shoulders. "I just can't stand being away from you. I love you so much and if something ever happened to you I wouldn't be able to handle it. I need you with me always. I can't function without you. I love you Peeta. God I love you so much" I grab the back of his head and bring it down so his lips meet mine. We kissed for a good couple of minutes before I pulled back and laid my head on his chest. "This baby is going to have a strong loving father"

"Your in no condition to fight him" Peeta whispers and kisses me again.

"I know and I wont, I'll think of our baby" I grab hold of his hands and place them firmly against my stomach right above our forming child.

"Katniss please don't be angry at me for sending you away tomorrow. I promise you I will come back to you. I will find a cure and Wadera will be dead. Promise me you will get on that train and allow these people to escort you out of the city, because if you don't promise me you'll go then I'm going to have to have Hass force you."

"Hass is going?"

"Well yeah he can't exactly fight now can he" I forgot that Hass was still recovering from the stab wound, "Hass, You and Delly will all be on that train tomorrow"

"Fine I'll go under one condition."

"Okay Whats that"

"Marry me...tonight. Take me to the capitol building and marry me"

"Katniss I..."

"Just the paperwork please."

"I want us to have a real wedding not just go to a building and sign a few things and then call you my wife."

"We will have a wedding, but please I just want the paperwork. I just want to change my last name and then I'll leave tomorrow"

He shakes his head. "I want to marry you right and the paperwork is the last step"

I can't believe he will not grant me this. I suddenly take a step back and blow up on him. "So you don't want marry me before sending me away"

"Katniss its not like that you know damn well I want to marry you. Its just I want to do it right. We are going so backwards A baby, Papers and then a wedding I don't want it to go down like this"

"Fine I get it Peeta" I stomp my way over to the door and toss it open. I pound my way down the hallway. I can hear Peeta's heavy footsteps as he follows me. His leg always gives him away. I increase my pace until I'm mere inches away from the elevator. I'm about to step into the elevator when he gently pulls me into him. He crushes his body against mine refusing to let me go.

"Don't make this hard I"m not breaking up with you this time. I'm coming back after he is dead and my brain is cleared. I'll meet you up there"

"NO! I wont go"

He lets me go and curses "FUCK" he rarely ever curses but when he does I know for a fact he is beyond pissed off at me. "Your so stubborn and hard-headed and...ugh"

"You go, I go. You made fall this much in love with you so now your suck with me!" I shout. I'm certain everyone on the floor can hear our argument, but I don't care I continued to yell at him, "Why are you so desperate, you've been desperate to get rid of me since I got here."

"I want you safe!"

"I'm safe with you"

"I'm done okay I'm done having this conversation with you!" Peeta snaps, "You don't understand. I don't need a babysitter"

"Fine then bite my head off for wanting to be with you then. it's obvious you don't care. Maybe I should of chosen Gale; at least he could care and let me help him" The words just flew out of my mouth without much thought. I wish I could take them back but before I could open my mouth. He whipped around to face me and spoke, the next words out of his mouth were ones I knew he didn't mean.

" Oh yeah Well you know what I wish"

"What?" I spat.

I wish...I wish I never threw that bread" He was not hijacked or anything and as soon as he said those words, his eyes widen and he stared at me shaking his head multiple times. I burst into tears and ran past him. How could he have said something like that to me. I opened our apartment door and started throwing anything and everything into a suitcase. The door creaked open and I sent a glass cup hurling across the room. I was about to send another one flying but the person behind the door stuck their head inside and flashed me a worried look.

"Whoa kitty relax" Hass said moving into the room.

I dropped to my knees and sobbed. Hass moved across the room and scooped me up into his arms like I weighed nothing. He set me on the couch and wiped the tears out of my eyes. "Stop crying please"

"I hate him, I hate him so much how dare he...the bread he regrets it"

"Kitty you need to take deep breaths"

"Ceal can fucking have him!" I scream.

"Kitty your both upset, You both love each other, You both are being stupid."

"He wants to leave me again."

Hass ignored me and scooped me up into his arms, that was then I noticed his small limp as he carried me to the bedroom and sat me down on the bed. I curled up in a ball on Peeta's side of the bed and inhaled the scent he left on the pillow. Hass sat on the edge of the bed tapping his foot against the hard wooden floor.

"Now you should try and sleep. I'll be just outside your apartment door" Hass says.

"What for?" I asked curiously.

"The president wants to make sure you are safe and sound tonight, she appointed me the guard. I'm supposed to report any suspicious activity."

"Okay" He rises from the bed and pecks me on the forehead and then takes off to stand watch. As soon as he was out of sight I unbuttoned my pants and throw them across the room, leaving me in nothing but my underwear. I did the same with my t-shirt and soon I was left in nothing but my undergarments. I tucked myself under the covers and stared at the ceiling for the longest time. The clock read midnight and still sleep would not find me and the left side of my bed was still empty. My anger towards Peeta was still there, but it was slowly dwindling. I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. It was incredibly hard to sleep without Peeta, but somehow I'll manage. Sleep finally found me a couple minutes later and a nightmare immediately started.

"_PUSH KATNISS" My mothers voice filled my ears._

_It hurts so bad, My hair is damp and soaked, its sticking to my forehead. Peeta is on the large bed with me, holding me, my back is against his chest, his legs are on either side of me, his hands are on my legs holding them open. Our baby is moving I can feel it kicking and moving inside of me and it is causing me great pain, I care barely stand it. I yell, I scream, I cry and there are so many people around me dressed in white hospital masks. My mother is standing next to me, yelling at me to push. I do and it hurts like hell. The baby is out on the third push and the doctor between my legs rises with a tiny squirming human being that is my son. I can only see the doctors eyes behind the mask and his eyes are a hateful brown color. He removes the mask and I scream. Wadera. Peeta bolts from the bed and makes a grab for our child. Wadera places the child on a small table and turns his attention to Peeta. He whips around just as Peeta makes a grab for our son. Wadera slices open Peeta's throat and blood is spilling. I scream and cry as Peeta's lifeless body hits the ground. Wadera buries the knife in the back of Peeta's head to make sure he is dead and gone. I roll of the bed, ignoring the pain that is piercing through my body and crawl towards my dead husband and helpless son. Wadera walks over to me and hits me square in the head. He grabs me up by the hair and smiles._

_"Night little mockingjay."_

"NOOOOOOOO" I scream and sit up in bed, my body is shaking, my hair soaking wet sticking to my forehead. I place my hands against my flat stomach and rub my child. I'm going to protect him, thats all I want and thats all Peeta wants. The left side of the bed is still empty, Peeta whereabouts is still unknown to me. I fly out of the bed, throwing on one of Peeta's large t-shirt and my shorts. I bolt out of the room and into the dark living room, towards the door leading to the hall. I open it, startling the shit out of Hass. He jumps out of his skin and turns to face me.

"Everything Alright?"

"Peeta, Have you seen him?"

Hass shakes his head. "No He hasn't been on this floor. Want me to help you look for him?"

I shake my head. "I think I know where he is." I leave Hass standing in the middle of the hallway, looking up at me in confusion. I run over to the elevator and hit the little button. The doors open and I step in. The elevator takes me to the top floor and from there I head up a pair of stairs leading to the roof. I get up on the roof and immediately the chilly night breeze makes me shiver and rub the goose bumps from my arms. Peeta's there leaning against one of the walls, looking over at the city below.

"Peeta" I whisper his name and as soon as it leaves my mouth Peeta whips his head around and stares at me.

"What are you doing out here? It's freezing out, wheres your clothes" I look down and realize I am dressed in only a pair of shorts and his baggy shirt, no shoes, no socks to cover my feet. It is drizzling outside and I know it is about to rain. I slowly move forward and look into his beautiful blue eyes that are slightly darkened due to the lack of sunlight. His anger seems to have vanished, replaced with concern for me being out here with no clothes on.

"Katniss I..." He was going to say I'm sorry, but before he can say anything I wrapped my hands around his neck and kissed the life out of him. When our lips parted I rested my head against his chest, inhaling his heavenly scent.

"I'll go with Delly and Hass tomorrow."

"I'm sorry Katniss I didn't mean any of it" He leans down and kisses my lips.

"Me either and I'm sorry for being so clingy and irritating. I'm an emotional wreck." I cry.

He chuckles, "I think all of your crying is because of the baby"

"Please just forgive me Peeta and know I love you and I don't regret choosing you over Gale. I don't regret anything"

"And please know I will never, ever regret saving your life." Our lips were about to meet again, but we were interrupted by the sound of laughter and hands clapping together. We looked to our left and see him walk out of the shadows. Wadera. His hair was slicked back and he was dressed in boots and tight pants. Behind him was three peacekeepers and the annoying bitch Ceal that was supposed to be on her way to capitol prison. How Wadera keeps getting past security is a complete and total mystery to me. Peeta pushes me behind him and stands in a defense stance in front of me.

"So the star-crossed lovers are expecting how beautiful."

"I'll kill you if you come near her" Peeta threatened.

Wadera smiles that wicket smile. "My dear boy I have to be near her in order for the world to by revived, besides the fun is just beginning tonight."

To be continued...


	25. To Kill a Mocking bird

Wow this is a very, very long chapter, 9k words holy crap ahah. I hope you all enjoy and please don't forget to review, pretty please the little button hit it lol. Enjoy.

Chapter 25

To Kill a Mocking bird

(Katniss POV)

I looked into Wadera's hateful eyes as he took a step forward, his peacekeepers remained behind him and that dumb bitch Ceal had her hand on her hip and was leaning against a stone wall. She had a look of excitement written across her face and all I wanted to do was smack it off of her. Peeta pushed me farther behind him as Wadera got closer and closer to us. He held out his hands to show us he was unarmed, that we had nothing to be afraid of. Bullshit. He had to of had some kind of weapon on him and if he didn't, those peacekeepers behind him sure as hell did. I didn't trust him and neither did Peeta. He stopped in front of us and smiled at us.

"A meeting is in order. Mockingjay" I tensed up at his words and Peeta pushed me farther and farther behind him, until I was out of Wadera's sight and He was out of my sight.

"Forget the meeting lets kill her" Ceal squeaked from behind him, "You promise I can have Peeta after you kill her."

Wadera rolled his eyes and glanced over his shoulder. Ceal had moved away from the wall and had both hands on her hip, she stared hard at Wadera, glaring daggers at him. Wadera didn't seem to be too affected by her attitude, his eyes bored into mine with such hatred. He was about to speak again, but Ceal cut him off for the second time today, all she had to do was keep talking and delay his so called meeting with me or whatever the hell it was. Wadera turned his back to us and looked at Ceal and as he did Peeta and I inched towards the steel door leading to the stairs.

"You promised!" She stomped her foot on the ground, "I did everything you asked, Delivered the tape, even help kill those guards that were escorting me to jail, Now you got the keys to the building because of me, Now give me what I want, erase his memories of her. Make him love me." Wadera set his jaw and there was fire in his eyes, he took his eyes off of us completely and took small steps in Ceal's direction. This really wasn't going to end well on her part. Peeta pointed to the exit and I nodded my head, Wadera was distracted and even the peacekeepers had their eyes fixed on Ceal and Wadera. We took another two steps towards the door, waiting for the perfect time to bolt.

"Your ordering me around?" Wadera asked in a deep and threatening voice. He step closer and closer until finally he was towering over her. She would not back down now, she straightened her posture and placed a hand on her hip, flipping her blonde hair back behind her shoulder, the look in Wadera's eyes were the look of pure hatred. He stared at her for a couple of seconds and then without warning, wrapped his hands around her throat. She squealed and started banging on Wadera's tight grip. She glanced over his shoulder and glared at us then at his men. "If they move shoot them" He ordered. There goes our shot at an escape. Wadera turned his attention back to Ceal and began gripping her throat harder. "You don't order me around and I don't owe you shit. They should of killed you when you entered that building, god your so fucking stupid" He picked her up off the ground, she was shaking and crying.

"You saved me from the cops" She choked out, her small fists pounded against Wadera's forearms, but did little damage.

"I didn't save your pathetic ass from anyone I wanted the key to the defense building and it just so happened you were still alive and in their custody."

"Please I"m sorry don't kill me" Ceal pleas. Wadera throws her to the ground, her head bangs off the cement and he calmly walks back over to Peeta and I. My eyes are glued on Ceal's body, there is a pool of blood seeping from her head and I"m not sure if she is alive or dead. As much as I hate the little bitch, this was not what I wanted for her. Apart of me wanted to go over there, kneel beside her and make sure she was okay, but another part of me told me she deserved what she got.

"Now, back to you guys, I have a serious issue with you" He points his long pale finger in my directions. "I came here to make you two a deal" Wadera grins. I step from behind Peeta and wrap my arms around my stomach, protecting my baby from his view.

"You know what I want."

"You want to kill me" I tell him.

"Yes, but I also want to take my rightful place as President. He said when he was dead and gone I'd be next since he had no kids of his own."

"I can't grant you that wish, you'd have to take it up with Paylor, which I don't think that is a good idea since she got a man hunt going on and a thousand dollar reward for your head. I got a proposition for you"

"Oh?" He smiled and folded his hands behind him.

"We both have reasons behind our actions. You want to kill me thats why you attacked me at the hotel room, the party and threatened me in the hospital parking lot. I want things too, I came here to help find a cure to the tracker jacker Venom that your all great and powerful Snow injected Peeta with. I want that... NOW"

Wadera chuckled loudly, so loudly it echoed all around us and into the night. "What makes you think I'd give it to you"

I bite my lip and look over at Peeta. He was staring at me with curious blue eyes. "Because I'll go with you and you can kill me"

"NO!" Peeta screamed, "I won't let you do this Katniss." He grabs hold of my arm as I take a step towards Wadera and pushes me behind him again.

"Let me get this straight your willing to put your life and your unborn baby's life in danger for this man"

"I...I'm not pregnant" I lied.

"Yes you are, don't lie to me."

I closed my eyes and sighed in defeat, he was not supposed to find out about the baby and our big mouths just blurted it out for the entire world to hear. I bite my lip again And tried to remain strong. If I let tears escape my eyes then he would think he was getting to me and prey on my weakness. My hands were shaking, palms sweaty, my unborn baby fluttered inside My stomach and I had an urge to throw up all over the place. Wadera took another step forward until he was in Peeta's face.

"So If I give you this cure, you'll come with me?" Wadera questioned.

I nodded, "Yes"

Wadera took a step back and reached into his coat pocket, pulling a small pink vile from the inside of his jacket. He smirked and waved the bottle in front of our faces, as if he was taunting us with it. That was what we have been searching for this whole time and now there it was, in the hands of a man that hated me for killing his brother, a man that wanted Panem back to the way it was.

"I can't cure the fake memories, he will always have them"

"Huh?" I asked confused. I peered around Peeta and looked him in the eyes.

"The venom is what makes him violent, The venom is coursing through his head and entire body; its slowly but surely killing him, most people we injected the venom with die at a young age, sometimes 30, 20, 25, depends how much they gave you. I'd say you will die in a couple years" Wadera smile and waved the pink vile in front of Peeta's face again, mockingly.

I can't handle this, and I can't picture walking into the bedroom a couple years from now and finding Peeta face down on the mattress, the light leaving his eyes. A few tears escape my eyes and I wrap my hands around the baby. The thought of her growing up without a father sickens me. I can't be like Annie I can't lose him, I'd die. More tears escaped my eyes and Wadera didn't miss them. He chuckled loudly and waved the pink bottle in our faces again.

"You wouldn't want the baby's father to die now would you?" He teased me.

"Just shut up" Peeta snapped.

"The vile for the mockingjay" Wadera tells Peeta.

"I would rather die than let you touch her" Peeta spits.

"Very well" Wadera pretends to drop the vile, but catches it in his hands.

"I'll do it!" I shout.

"No you wont" Peeta shouts back.

Wadera takes a step forward and pushes Peeta out of the way. He stands in front of me and grips my shoulders hard. He moves his hands so they now rest on my stomach. "Big mockingjay and little mockingjay, two for one deal"

"Don't touch my daughter!" Peeta screams and looses it. He comes at Wadera swinging, He catches the vile man off guard and tackles him to the ground by the waist. He then proceeds in straddling his waist and punching him in the mouth, nonstop. Wadera was no weakling though, he throws Peeta off of him and hits him hard in the groin. I watch helpless as the two men pound the shit out of each other. I'm afraid to help Peeta attack Wadera because of the baby. The peacekeepers standing behind Wadera cocked their guns and proceeded in aiming them at Peeta. Their guns are aimed directly at Peeta. If one of them pulls the trigger and shoots Peeta is gone to the world and the baby will have no father.

"No!" I scream and scramble to my feet, I stood in front of Peeta so the bullets would hit me and not him. I would rather go then him. Wadera sees my actions. He throws Peeta off of him again and bolts to my side.

"SHE"S MINE" He screeches.

As soon as they lower their weapons Wadera catches me, placing one strong arm around my waist and the other around my neck. He reaches into his coat pocket and rolls the pink vile in Peeta's direction. "The cure, for the mockingjay" He grins. Peeta tries his hardest to get to me but the three peacekeepers holds him back. I'm fighting Wadera with all my strength, but its no use I can't seem to fight him. The peacekeepers seemed to be having a hard time containing Peeta. Two has ahold of his arms and one has a gun pointed at his face, but yet Peeta still manages to move forward towards me.

"Katniss!" He is close to me now, with all the strength he has he pulls away from the peacekeepers and lunges forward grabbing my face between his strong hands. He kisses me hard, but it doesn't last long because the peacekeepers pull him by the arms again and Wadera pulls me towards the edge of the building. "I love you" Peeta screams.

"I love you" I cry, my words only make Wadera laugh and hit me in the mouth, as if he was scolding me for saying something bad. We are nearing the edge of the building and I can see the quiet city below. So this was it, his big plan was to throw me over the side of the building, have me fall to my death like Cato fell to his. Did he have mutts waiting to devour my lifeless body.

"Sir?" the sound of a peacekeepers voice made Wadera stop dead in his tracks.

"What!" He spat, his grip tightened around my neck and it was suddenly hard to breath.

"What do we do with him" The peacekeeper asked pointing to a struggling Peeta.

Wadera was silent for a moment and then an evil grin spread across his face. "Shoot him"

"No please shoot me" I begged, he ignored me and led me further towards the ledge. "Kill me not him."

Wadera laughed and began mocking me, "No, No, Shoot me, let him live. Hah I will kill you mockingjay slowly, painfully, but right now I want you to watch the light leave your lovers eyes. I want you to watch as I kill the man you eat with, the man that knows you inside out, the man you have sex with, the father of your baby. Watch as I take everything away from you, by just the pull of a trigger."

Suddenly a gush of cool air wipes across my face and in front of us, hovering in midair was one of them large hovercraft. A loud gunshot filled the air, my legs stopped working and tears formed in my eyes. Peeta was dead, The father of my baby was dead. They just shot him I know they did. I want to die too, I want Wadera to kill me now. I can' live without him. I give up my fight and allow him to lead me towards the platform of the hovercraft. Suddenly another gunshot filled the air, followed by three more. Wadera glanced over his shoulder in enough time to see his precious peacekeepers being taken down. A defense squad was on the roof firing at the hovercraft trying to prevent it from taking off into the darkness. I don't care though, let it take off, let Wadera kill me. Peeta's dead, so I might as well be too. I have nothing else to live for. Suddenly a small flutter fills my stomach and my whole world just seemed to have stopped. My baby just fluttered. He is in there, developing waiting to be born. I cry at the fact he has no father now. This was my baby, Peeta's baby and I'll be damn if this man takes my baby boy or girl away from me.

Wadera's hands are still around my neck and waist. We are backing up onto the platform. The squad is nearly on us, they are firing at the hovercraft, trying to knock it out of the air and onto the roof. I have to do something, anything to make him let go of me. I dip my head, take Wadera's skin between my teeth and bite him as hard as I can. He grunts, takes his other hand from around my waist and punches me in the back of the head hard, But I still won't let go of his flesh and its starting to bleed. I finally let go as part of his skin rips, the hovercraft is taking off now, I can hear the roar of the engine. I have to get off now and quick. I let my head fall back and crack him in the nose, he is off of me. I leap from the platform and go flying through the air towards the rooftop cement. It only takes me a split second to realize that I'm going to be landing on my stomach, that their is no stopping it. I think quick and wrap my hands around my stomach, hopefully my arms will take most of the damage and my little baby will only feel a small shake.

The impact is very painful, I land on my arms just like I planned and their is a nasty crunching sound. I've broken it, my head takes a hard blow too and soon everything around me is blurry, the sound of hurried footsteps become distant and suddenly everything becomes black. I don't know Whats going on, I don't know if Wadera killed the squad and is now coming back for me. The last thing I remember is being lifted off the ground.

I don't know what time it is or what year it is, if I'm dead or alive. I'm sitting on a white bench, my entire environment is white and it gives me a sort of comfort and peace to be in a place like this. I stand from the bench and begin to walk, I feel so relax and stress free. This place is incredibly beautiful. I walk for a couple of minutes before stopping as the white figure approaching me catches my eyes. As the figure came into view I became shocked. A little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes came to a stop in front of me, she smiled and gazed up at me with her beautiful ocean blue eyes.

"Hello little girl" I say kindly, kneeling down beside me.

"Hi" She grinned shyly.

"Are you lost?"

She shakes her head and bites her lip, "No, I was playing with the flowers. Their beautiful. Want to see them?"

The little girl giggles and takes hold of my hand, leading me deeper into the unknown. We walk for a couple of minutes until we come to a large field, filled with every single flower known to man. My mouth dropped as I took in its beauty. The little girl giggled again, lets go of my hand and runs through the field of flowers. I followed her watching her blonde braided hair bounce up and down on her shoulders. She rolled around on the ground giggling and laughing as she took in the scent of every flower she can get ahold of.

"The primroses are my favorite." She smiled, "They can be all kinds of colors. Mommy said my auntie was named Primrose."

My heart just stopped beating as the words flew out of her mouth. Was this my daughter? My future daughter? I'm so confused right now. I took a moment to study her features as she began weaving flowers into her hair. I looked at her, really looked at her and my heart fluttered. She was Peeta, the hair, the eyes, the nose, the jaw, lips, ears, smile. She had everything right down to the small amount of freckles. I had to be dreaming, either that or I was dead, I didn't survive the fall and neither did my baby. Was this heaven? Would I be able to see Prim, Cinna, Finnick...My father? Peeta?

"What's your name?"

"Saffra, What's your name?"

"Katniss" I introduced kindly.

She smiles brightly, "That's my mommy's name"

"Where are your parents?" I ask, my heart is sinking to the floor.

"I"m not supposed to go with them yet, its not time." She tells me.

"What are you waiting for?" I ask

"I'm waiting to go home, I'm not big enough yet" She says sadly.

"You don't have to wait, your big enough" I smile and use my free hand to gently tap her on the nose. She giggles and hugs my leg, her tiny little fingers gripping the fabric of my pants. I patted her head, she looks up at me, gives me a loving smile and starts to wander off.

"Wait Saffra where are you going?"

"Nap time" She says and just like that she disappears out of my sight. I run after her, but I cant see nothing in front of her. I yell and reach for her, but nothing comes up and then suddenly I open my eyes and stare at the white ceiling. I became aware that an IV is strapped to my arm and that both of my arms are wrapped in white bandages and they hurt like hell. The IV in my arm was causing me discomfort and I was about to pull it out, but a pair of warm, strong hands stopped me from doing so.

"Don't do that" Came a soft familiar voice.

"Peeta?" I question with tears of joy.

"Who else would it be?" He chuckled.

"Your alive" I cry and lean up from the bed to search for him, his blue eyes meet mine and I lean up more ignoring the pain in my arms. He meets me halfway and we kiss. "I thought they shot you" I cry and kiss him again. I kiss him with so much passion and love that nothing else mattered at that particular moment except for his lips. When our lips break I gasp and my hands went to my stomach. "Saffra?"

"Who?" Peeta asks me looking confused.

"The baby is she okay?"

Peeta sighs, "Yeah, you were both lucky to survive that fall. That honestly was a big jump from the hovercraft to the rooftop. You broke and sprained your arms, left is broken, right is sprained." Thats why I have such unbearable pain in my left arm more than my right. "And Katniss the doctors said you are under so much stress and this much stress is not good for the baby. He said if we don't take some stress off of you now, then you will lose her."

"What happened" I ask in a weak voice.

"A lot. Gale saved my ass. Rend's squad took down the peacekeepers, Wadera had you on that hovercraft We thought we would have to go after you, but then you jumped and blacked out when you hit the ground. I really thought you were dead from the hard hit your head took. Rend shot him."

I smile "He's dead?"

Peeta shakes his head and my smile drops. "He got away, Rend hit his arm. There is something else too" He stands straight up and dips his hand into his jeans pocket, pulling out a small pink vile. My heart pounded in my chest. This was it, this was the cure, at least I hope it was.

"The cure?"

"I don't know, I don't see him being that stupid." Peeta says.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"I don't know," He says and stows the vile away back into his pocket. He glances over his shoulder at the clock, its still really late. "I should probably get going."

I shake my head. "Lay down with me please, stay"

He stands there for a couple of seconds before deciding to kick off his shoes and crawl into the hospital bed with me. I scoot over and make room for him. My head goes to his chest as soon as he lays down and his arms engulf me into a warm hug. We lay there for a long while stroking and kissing each other. He was careful not to bump my arms, which hurt like hell. The door to my room opens and a nurse comes in, flickering on the lights she gazed at both Peeta and I, smiling happily.

"Mr. Mellark so nice of you to stick around for her" The nurse smiled.

"Do I have permission to sleep here with her?" Peeta questions.

"Visiting hours are over, but I'll see what I can do. In the meantime I must give Miss. Everdeen something for the pain" She holds up two tiny blue pills and walks over to the bed with the pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other, "This will help you sleep and make the pain in your arms more tolerable." She hands me a cup and two pills which I easily swallow. She smiles one last time at us and then stalks out of the room to get the head nurses permission for Peeta to stay.

"What are you going to do with that vile?" I asked, rearranging myself in a more comfortable position. I didn't want him to drink the contents, not without knowing for a fact that it was going to help his venom. For all we know it could be more poison. I just don't understand why Wadera would bring something this valuable to us, maybe tonight didn't go as he planned. Maybe he really was planning on kidnapping me and doing god knows what. Did he just expect Peeta to trade me for the medicine? Is that why he brought it? Did he just assume the man that is deeply in love with me would just hand me over. No, Peeta would rather suffer. It just didn't make any sense to bring something that valuable. Peeta must of sense my discomfort because he tightens his hold on me just a little.

"I honestly don't know what to do with it, to tell you the truth, Maybe I could try drinking it" Peeta replies. I look up into his eyes and make a face, of course I don't want him to drink the vile. There could be so many things wrong with it. It came from Wadera and nothing ever good comes from that man.

"Maybe you can have someone inspect it; like your doctor or something."

Peeta shrugs, "Lets not worry about that right now. Get some sleep." He pecks me on the head and I rest my head on his chest, listening to the faint heartbeat. Every beat in that heart is for me and me only. The silence lingered on for a couple of seconds, then I titled my head up and quickly captured his lips with mine in a quick kiss.

"I love you" I mumble randomly in the crock of his neck.

"I love you too" He replies and gently kisses my lips. "Now try to sleep"

"Stay with me"

"Yes" He mutters and kisses me one more time. It didn't take long for me to fall into a peaceful deep sleep. I was hoping My mind would take me to that white room or wherever it was, I wanted to gaze upon that little girl with the blonde hair and pigtail, the little girl that might be my future daughter. I wanted to dream of her and her father instead of blood and guts. I wanted to see their smiles and laughs. For the first time in my entire life I was actually excited that a little girl or boy was growing inside me. I never wanted kids, never had any intentions of falling in love or getting married, but every since he walked into my life things have changed drastically. I love this man so much and I'm going to do everything in my power to help him, but I"m also going to do everything in my power to make sure my little girl can be born into a safe and sweet environment. I'll be damned if that piece of garbage Wadera is going to restore the old capitol. I will be damn if he even lays a finger on my daughter or her father and I'll be damn if he thinks I'll go down without a fight.

(Gale's POV)

My hands are braced tightly against the shower wall and I lean my head forward and allow the water to run easily down the tense muscles in my back. It has been a really rough night with that trash Wadera threatening to kidnap Katniss and Shoot bread boy in the back of his head. He was so lucky the squad came around that corner when they did, he was lucky that I reacted fast and blew the guys head off before the peacekeeper could pull the trigger. He came so close in getting shot in the back of the head. I saved his ass and now he own me one. I saved him for Katniss's sake and her unborn baby. As much as Mellark gets on my nerves I would not want his life to be stolen from him, it would literally crush Katniss into two pieces and I did not want that for her.

I stayed propped up against the wall for a long while, until I heard a small tapping on the door. I shut off the shower knob and pulled back the curtain, reaching for a towel, wrapping it around my waist. I didn't have to try and guest who was on the other side of the door, knocking, making sure it was okay to use the bathroom. I had locked Delly in the room all last night, She was completely mad at me for locking the doors from the outside. I was going to keep her safe and sound from them Peacekeepers and that nasty asshole Wadera. It was about 6 in the morning and I feel like I have been hit by a mac truck, My body aches, I'm freezing and I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I just got off duty, Rend had me and Naomi up on the rooftop all night long, guarding and patrolling (all the while Delly was locked in the room all night and nobody but me knew about it). I wrapped the towel around my waist and pulled the door open.

She was standing there in a nightgown, hair wild, tired eyes. She refused to look at me, but I caught her glance at my large chest a couple times before pushing her way past me and into the bathroom. She has no right to be mad at me for locking her in the room all night, at least she was safe from harm, besides what was she going to do? Fight? Delly could not even punch someone in the face right. I sighed in anger and walked back into the bathroom, the towel still wrapped around my waist. She was in the process of starting a nice luke-warm bath water.

"Really your going to be pissed at me for this?" I frown.

"Do you really think I would be that stupid and would wander off while you guys were in the middle of a fight? You didn't have to lock me in I would of just stayed in here and then afterwards you didn't even come up here and tell me you were alright. I had to spend all last night wondering if someone put a bullet in your head or if my best friend and his girlfriend were even alive. Am I just in the way of everything? Just another person you need to lock away and make sure they don't get in the way?" She is angry with me I can see it in her eyes, although this is nothing new, she is always angry at me for something.

"Is it my fault I want to protect you from these people? What if they would of gotten past us and into the defense building, Huh? They would of shot every single person in here including you...I couldn't let that happen and you know why" I grab her gently by the arms and force her to look at me.

"Yes, You love me thats why" She rolls her eyes and shrug out of my lose grip, she holds her hand under the flowing water and sigh. I can't stand this tension that we have between us sometimes.

"Yes I do love you and I don't want them to set eyes on you. I don't want them to use you for some sick and twisted purpose. God knows their using Peeta to get to Katniss and its only a matter of time before they use me to get to her and then they wll get to me through you. I love you and I can't let that happen. That tape they sent to Katniss..it was bad, he knows I'm her best friend, so its only a matter of time before he comes for me and when that time comes I'll be ready to fight for this country's freedom, for my best friend and for you"

"I wish I was a lot stronger, like you and Katniss and Peeta, but I'm not and I feel so helpless, like a damsel in distress." She pouts and lowers her head.

I smirk, tilt her chin up and kiss her quickly, "Some people are not meant to be warriors, some people are meant to be kind, loving, gentle and you are a mixture of all three."

"Your so mushy sometimes its sickening" She giggles.

"I'm telling the honest truth" I chuckle.

She smiles and is quiet for awhile, "I need a shower" She states.

"Alright" There is a brief pause, her eyes goes to my large chest again and I let a smirk appear on my face, "Kiss me?" I demand and this makes her face turn red.

"What?" She asks pretending not to hear me.

"I want a kiss you heard me"

She rolls her eyes, stands on her tiptoes and pecks me very, very lightly on the lips. She turns away from me and feels the water again. I frown, that was not what I wanted, without warning I turned her around very gently and grab her small jaw between my large hand. I kiss her hard, her eyes widen at first, but then they flutter close and she is pulling me closer to her, her tiny hands are in my jet black hair. I am hunched over her trying my very best to kiss her hard. It would be easier if we were both the same height. I pick her up, her legs going around my waist and for a spilt second I get scared that the towel wrapped around my waist is going to unravel and I will expose myself to her, But that doesn't happen, it is tightly secured around my waist. I maneuver us around the large bathroom, trying to find a place where I can lean her up against. The large sink will have to do. I take my one arm off of her and use my forearm to send the items on the large sink to the ground. Toothbrushes, hairbrushes, candles, bottles of toothpaste all goes hurling to the ground. I set her gently on the sink and her legs are on either side of me now. Geez I just asked for one kiss and that one kiss leads to this. Both her hands are gripping my shoulders and she is trying her hardest to deepen the kiss. I can't believe their is so much sexual tension between us and this is coming from a girl that has been raped on more than one occasion. I won't have sex with her because of that reason.

"Gale" She moans between our lips.

My hands gently grip both her legs and I pushed into her harder and this earns a moan from the back of her hroat. She is clawing at my back and I am devouring her lips, making them swollen and well kissed. Soon I'm panting between each kiss I give her and she does the same. She parts our lips for air and immediately I go to her neck and kiss her there, leaving bright red marks, "Gale" She moans again as she runs her hands through my jet black hair. "Gale, I...Ouch" She groans and I immediately stop kissing her and look into her light blue eyes.

"What? What is it?" I have her face between my hands.

"Something is poking me" She says breathless and reaches behind her and pulls out a hairbrush that was poking her in the back. She examines the brush and smiles up at me. "There's the culprit" She says and tosses it to the ground. I give her one last loving kiss before helping her off the sink. The towel is a little loose on me so I quickly tighten it while she straightens her nightgown that was riding up past her thighs.

"I should probably get a shower now" She mumbles, her face is red and she is breathless, so am I.

"Yeah" I lean forward and give her one last kiss before exiting the shower and leaving her to her business. I enter the large bedroom and throw on jeans, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt over top of that. I plopped down on the couch and put my feet up on the coffee table, as soon as I sat down My eyelids began to close and all I wanted to do was sleep. I gave in and allowed my lids to close, driving myself into a deep and peaceful sleep. I wasn't asleep for very long because the next thing I know I'm being woken to the sound of pounding on our door. I made no attempt to get it, I hear Delly's small footsteps move across the room.

"Hi" Delly greets warmly.

"Madam" I recognized the voice as commander Rend, I hear his large heavy footsteps move into the room and I keep my eyes closed and my body still, Making no indications that I am awake and ready for whatever it was he wanted me to do. I hear Delly lead Rend into the kitchen, there is cups and plates clicking together.

"Can I help you with something?" Delly questions.

"Mr. Hawthorne is needed down in the lobby in about 20 minutes, we are going to be broadcasting a live broadcast to the citizens of the capitol, explaining the current situation we find ourselves in, only then the people can decide for themselves if they want to stay or go, I believe you, Mr. Fredrickson and Miss. Everdeen are the first scheduled on the train?" Rend questions her.

"Yes" Delly admits sadly, "Can you just let him sleep for now? He's been up all night, he's tired" There is a brief pause and I just know Rend looked in my direction. I keep my eyes squeezed shut and my body motionless, I was always good at pretending the be asleep; it was something I used to do back home. When my mother came into my room and asked me to do something for her,I would pretend to be asleep so I wouldn't have to help her and she was a kind enough person, she would never wake me up. She'd just smile, chuckle and close my door. Looking back now I wish I'd done everything my mother told me to do, spent as much time as I could with her.

"Sorry miss, his presence will be expected down in the lobby in 20 minutes" Rend said in his professional tone.

"Yes commander" Delly was silent and She was probably biting her lip right now, "One thing commander"

"Yes?"

"When is the train leaving?" She questions.

"One will leave today and one tomorrow, yours, Miss. Everdeen and Mr. Fredrickson will be leaving on day two in private, nobody except Paylor and myself know about it. Don't worry you are all in good hands. Now tell Hawthorne to be in the lobby in 20 minutes" His large footsteps walks across the room, I hear Delly bid her goodbyes and that was that. Oh I'm so exhausted I don't want to go down to the lobby. I feel the couch shift and suddenly Delly is curled up against my side running her fingers down the side of my cheek, her touch sends shivers down my spine, I open my tired gray eyes and meet her light blue eyes. We smile at each other and I go in for a light kiss.

"Rend wants you downstairs in twenty minutes" She tells me and continues running her hands through my hair.

"I heard" I tell her in a tired voice. I pull my tired body off the couch and stretch my sore, tired muscles. Delly watches me and smiles the whole time, her smile really can put my mind at ease.

"Are you coming with me?" She suddenly asks me out of the blue.

"Where?"

"On the train."

I sigh and shake my head "I can't Del, I already joined the squad when we first came here, I need to help them kill these people"

She nods her head multiple times again and speaks very lowly, "I'm going to really miss you when where apart"

"I'm going to miss you too, but promise me you'll help Hass look after Katniss, she is going to be a wreck." I say.

Delly sighs, "Peeta really got her pregnant again?"

I look at Delly kind of shocked that she was about to find out that information. I nod my head and placed a hand on my hip, staring at her in curiosity, word travel fast around this place. It's not even quiet 7 in the morning and already everyone in the whole building knows of Wadera's attack on Katniss and Peeta on the rooftop. I wish I can go to the hospital and check on her, make sure she didn't miscarry another baby. It would be tragic and heartbreaking if she miscarried twice. News of Katniss condition was unknown to me, hopefully someone down in the lobby will know something, I look over my shoulder at the clock again, it was nearly time for me to go to the lobby, not like I wanted to you. I really wanted to stay up here, hug on her, kiss on her and get some sleep.

"Yes he got her pregnant" I finally say answering Delly's questions. I take a step forward, lean down and kiss her real quick on the mouth, "I got to go"

"I take it I'm not allowed to leave this room?" She questions with a hand on her hip.

"Please just in case something happens." I take her small, tiny frame into my large arms and hug her, We kiss for the longest moment, her hands in my hair, mine resting on the small of her back. When we break apart she rest her head on my chest, listening to my heartbeat, "Love you" I say quietly as if someone is listening and watching us. I feel like I'm being watched.

"Please don't lock me in this time" She begs me.

"I won't I trust you'll stay in here." I give her one last and final kiss and then I'm out the door, walking down the hallway with my head down and my hands in my pocket. I get into the elevator, ride it down to the first floor, it dings open and I find myself in the lobby, Rend and Creft's entire squad is in the lobby awaiting orders. I scan the room hoping to find anyone that can tell me of Katniss's condition, but nobody catches my eyes. Finally after s couple minutes of looking his blonde hair catches my mind and I bolt quickly towards Mellark. He is sitting on one of the lobby benches staring at a small pink vile in his hands. I come over and take a seat next to him.

"Mellark" I greeted him softly.

"Gale" He greets back.

"You alright?" It was really a stupid question to ask. Of course he's not alright. Fiancee is in the hospital. A psycho wants to kill her, the world is in chaos, he almost got popped in the back of the head, if it weren't for me he'd be six feet under, leaving Katniss a single mother and heartbroken. Peeta narrows his eyes at me as I asked that question and remains silent, staring at the pink vile in his hands.

"I want this to be over, I want her out of danger, I want her to be happy and safe and she is none of those things, she is laying in the a hospital bed because of me, because of that stupid fight we had. If I would of just took her into my arms and kissed her instead of yelling and fighting with her then there is a good chance she would be here, packing her things, ready to go on that train. You know I'm not a very good boyfriend, I got my girlfriend pregnant twice, killed the first one, put the second on in danger on that rooftop. Wadera knows about it now and its my fault. You really are better for her than I am and if I die or something you need to take care of her, be better than me. I know you've fallen in love with my best friend and thats fine, I'm just asking that you take care of her and my baby, she really should of chosen you."

"You need to shut your mouth Mellark right now and stop being so negative. One none of this is anyones fault except that bastard Wadera, hes the sick twisted man hell bent on following in Snow's footsteps. We will kill him, set things straight and fix that problem of your. Seems like you found a solution anyway." I pointed to the pink bottle and gently took it out of Peeta's hand. I gave it a good twirl through my fingers examining every inch of it. I handed it back to him and continued. "Katniss loves you, she's always loved you, even after the first games."

Peeta chuckles without humor, "No she loved you too at one time"

"As a brother, She was thinking of you every time we kissed, After ever kiss and every touch she refused to make eye contact with me, she could barely look at me after we kissed and the way we kissed was hurried and unmeaning, but when you kissed her on the beach, for the cameras, in the cave; every single one of those seemed to have meaning. I have never seen my best friend look at someone like that, they way she looked at you, they way she kissed you I could only dream she'd do that to me. Katniss really did chose the one she can't live without, she chose you."

"Why are you saying all this to me, your the one that hates me for taking her from you, but here you are trying to boost my confidence, why is that?"

"Because you need to stop sitting here in self-pity feeling sorry for yourself and her, you need to get up off your ass and fight for her, fight for your child, Fight for your cure and send that little prick to hell, let him join his dead little brother."

Peeta nod his head multiple times, gets up from the bench and stares at me with those deep ocean blue eyes. He sticks out his hand and we shake, something we have only ever done once or twice. "I never did thank you"

"For what?"

"Saving my ass. Thank you"

"Your welcome."

He disappears through the crowds of people and I feel proud of myself for giving him a confidence boost. I sit back down on the bench and let my head fall back. I really could go to sleep here and now. I was about to close my eyes, but a loud fearful shrieking noise made me bolt in an upright position. The screams and shrieks were coming outside, everyone in the lobby bolted from the building and now stood in the streets of the capitol. I looked around, expecting to see peacekeepers strangling the citizens, doing something harmful, but there wasn't a peacekeeper in sight. People had their hands to their mouths and was looking up at the screens that littered the capitol. I glanced up and saw him, there he was smiling down at everyone, blood covering his face. A human head in his lap.

"I will kill everyone and anyone who stands in my way. Those who sided with the mockingjay will be killed when everything is restored, however there is something that you can do in order to redeem yourself and that is bring me the mockingjay. When I am president of Panem, your country will be restored and you will no longer have to be equal o the districts, this city will be above all, as your president Snow intended it to be."

I looked around the square a few people took their hands away from their mouth and looked up at Wadera with such curiosity. Was this really happening, were people really considering this above all district crap.

"Bring me the mockingjay and I will give you your rightful place in the restored city." Wadera cheered.

I was shocked and angry that a couple people actually clapped for him. The screens suddenly went blank and the people in the streets started rushing towards President Paylor's mansion. This really wasn't going to end well. I stood there staring blankly up at the screen.

"Gale?" Someone shout. I turned around to see Hass and Delly coming my way.

"What are you doing out here" I frowned at Delly.

"We got to get her and Katniss to the train station ASAP, it is chaos and can you believe some people are actually lining up at Paylor's mansion, demanding the mockingjay."

"Are you serious" I spat.

"Yeah dead serious" Hass nods.

"How the hell was he able to get a live broadcast through."

Hass shrugs, "I don't know, but he got his message across and there are sick people out there wanting things restored."

"Is Katniss safe?" I question.

"Yeah, she is still at the hospital, Peeta and I were going to go over there now, but I need you to put Delly on a train. The trains are going to be busy, there are a lot of people wanting to leave and a lot of people wanting to stay and search for Katniss. Its going to be a bloodbath. Paylor has ordered her entire defense team into the city. She thinks their hovercraft will be here in a matter of minutes."

"Alright I'll take her to the train station, tell Rend I will be back as soon as I know she is safe and on the train."

Hass nods and takes off back into the building. I take Delly's hand in my own and start to lead her down the sidewalk. We would have to walk it, the cabs would not be running if a war was about to go on. We walk down the sidewalk and I soon become aware of a man in his late forties, early fifties following our every move and turn. I glance over my shoulder and he just smiles. The freak. I have half a mind to turn around and punch him in the mouth. Delly has not seen him which is good. I don't want to alert her. We take a left and then a right, the man is still following us. Finally I have enough, he is on our heels now. I whip around and hell in his face.

"BACK OFF!" I scream.

"I missed you Delly" He smiles. I look over at her and see the color drain from her face, "Daddy's missed you so much"

Delly whimpers beside me and I step in front of her as the man that I am assuming to be her step-father tries to reach for her. I get in his face, my blood is boiling and its taken everything I have inside me not to kill this man, "Stay the fuck away from her" I hiss.

"Who the hell are you" He spits back.

"Your not allowed...near...me" Delly stutters out.

"Awe baby, don't you miss daddy. It's been years Delly. Daddy's lonely."

"Your not my father, you will never be my father!" She yells.

The mans face falls, he bites his lip and sets his jaw, "Alright you little bitch, after everything I have done for you took you in after your whore of a mother died, gave you food shelter and in return you call the police on me for taking care of you."

I take a step forward and push the man hard, it was unexpected and he looses his balance. The older man hits the ground hard and I can't help but scream. "You raped her, you raped your own step daughter." I grab him by the collar and smash my head against his. Delly moves forward and places her small hand on my bicep. She pulls me away from her step-father and tries her hardest to soothe my temper. The man struggles to his feet, but once he regain his balance all I want to do is push him down again.

"Didn't think my food and shelter were free did yeah" He chuckles.

"Samuel you need to leave me alone"

"No, I miss you, I miss the way you scream and cry. I'm happy I decided to come here. What are the odds; the hunger games are returning, the districts will be shit again and to top it all off I get to be so rough with you...I" He didn't finish his sentence because my fist pounded in his fist and I sent him hurling to the ground. I then straddled his an gave him a right and left hook as hard as I could, until his old skin cracked and even then I wouldn't stop. There was so much rage and anger I couldn't control it. I keep hitting him left and right. Delly is begging me to stop, but I won't. Samuel soon becomes limp and I hop off of him and check for a pulse. He's still alive which means I haven't beaten him to death. He groans and opens he swollen eyes. He dips his shaky hand into his pocket and pulls out a gun. Delly gasp and I grab hold of her as Samuel tries and shoots me. The gun goes off and the stray bullet takes off missing us by a lot. He's cursing and yelling, calling Delly foul names, but we pay no attention as we hurry down the street towards the train station. She is crying her eyes out and soon I have had enough. I pull her into the alleyway and hug her tightly. She buries her head into my chest and sobs.

"Shh, your safe, Your here with me. I love you. He won't hurt you" I soothe her.

"I'm scared, I'm so scared...of everything" She cries. I tilt her head up and wipe the tears away, "Come with me please, don't make me go alone, don't make me go with people I don't know. Please come with me Gale."

"I can't sweetie" I say and creased her head, "You'll have Katniss and Hass."

"I don't want them. I want you" She cries.

It took me a long while to calm her down after confronting her step-father. We race towards the train station and people are lined up everywhere. Hass,Rend, Johanna, Peeta and Katniss herself, are on the other side of the station, followed by a few guards. I lead Delly over towards them.

"What took so long?" Rend asked.

"Long story."

"Get these guys on the train" Rend orders me and the guards.

"I'm not going without you" I hear Katniss say to Peeta and Delly says the same thing to me. Peeta and I led our girls on the train. There is a loud popping noise that echoes through the station, some shrieks, cries, more popping noise. I bolt off the train to investigate and there I see at least 12 of them, Peacekeepers firing their guns everywhere. Another firing noise and I hear Johanna wail. I turn towards her expecting to see her laying on the ground, covered in blood with a bullet in her chest or something, but it wasn't her. It was Rend laying there blood seeping from his sides, blood in his mouth. Johanna is crying and the light is leaving Rend's body.

To be continued...


	26. Escort

Sorry it took so long I've been really busy lately. But the chapter is here now it'll be okay :P. Please enjoy and don't forget to review.

Chapter 26

Escort

(Katniss POV)

He was dead before he even hit the ground, that was what the medics said when they arrived on the scene a couple minutes after the guards got the area secured. I stayed on the train, kneeled over the bathroom toilet, puking my guts out. Peeta kneeled beside me holding back my hair and rubbing my back in comforting way. I must of gotten the baby too worked up or something because I could not stop the contents in my stomach from resurfacing. My coughs and gagging noises filled the air and I half expected Peeta to get disgusted, plug his nose, something, but he didn't. He stayed there, rubbing my back and shoulders. I hated this part of being pregnant, throwing up was the worst thing in the world and I have been doing it constantly. I didn't mind though I'd do anything for my daughter. I wanted to make sure she was forming in there comfortably, I wanted her to be nice and warm and at peace inside of me. I had to continue to protect her and protect her I was going to do. I still can't shake the feeling of Wadera's clammy hands pressed against her, how dare he touch my child, I'll kill him for that. I threw up the last of the hospital food and flushed the toilet, obvious she didn't like the soup and crackers that I had requested.

Peeta scooped me up into his arms and carried me to the bedroom part of the train. I was glad it was a larger train instead of the ones that Hass and I used to get here. This train was exactly like the ones we took during the victors tour, it was classy with a large dinner table, couches, bedrooms, bathrooms, I guess they feel the need to escort me in style which I wasn't complaining. Peeta gently laid me on the bed and kissed my forehead, he removed my boots and gave my feet a gently squeeze. My feet were sore and my arms hurt like hell. I broke my left and sprained my right from that jump off the hovercraft and onto the roof. I think I'd be able to deal with the pain though, besides it was either break my arm or let Wadera kidnap me and take me to god knows where. He would of tortured me, killed my daughter and then me. Peeta covered me up with a thin blanket and kissed my forehead again. He was about to leave, but my right, sprained hand shot out and I grabbed hold of him, ignoring the shooting pains that went through it.

"Please stay with me" I begged him, I was still a little tired even though it was late in the afternoon. The pain meds they gave me for my arms made me dizzy and tired. I tightened my hold on Peeta's hand as hard as the pain will allow, begging him with my eyes to stay with me.

"I have to find Commander Creft and see Whats going on" He replies to me.

"Please, Just until I fall asleep."

He sighs, his big massive shoulders drop. He kicks off his shoes and gets into bed with me. I scoot over and make room for him and as soon as he lays down my head is on his chest and I'm listening to the soft heartbeat. Peeta runs his fingers through my hair, it has become a sort of habit of his.

"Are you okay?" He asks kissing the top of my head.

"I don't know anymore. I want this to be over...no more deaths. I need to know if there is going to be someone else after Wadera. I need to know if my life is going to be like this forever. I want our baby to be born in a safe world, I don't want her to see the violence and hatred that we've see. I want her to grow up in peace" I bit my lip, tears are threatening to spill out of my tired eyes. Peeta holds me tight, being careful not to bump my wounded arms.

"I promise after Wadera is dead nobody from the capitol is going to come near you or her."

I chuckle without humor, "They won't listen, as soon as everyone finds out I'm pregnant..camera's will be lining up at our doorstep begging for baby pictures, People will want to touch her, hold her, give her the nickname of baby mockingjay and to tell you the truth I don't want our daughter even stepping foot in the capitol."

"Katniss?" His voice is deep and extremely serious, I knew he was going to say something that is going to make my jaw drop. I look up at him, in the eyes waiting for him to continue talking and when he does my heart drops at his request, "Lets leave it all"

"Um...What?" I ask him shocked.

"You and me, have our daughter away from it all, lets leave Panem, Leave the hatred, violence, leave all of it behind us."

"I can't, Peeta, My mother is here, We got friends here, Haymitch, Effie, Gale, Delly I just can't abandon them."

"I'm sorry it was just a thought"

I lean up and kiss him quickly, "And a wonderful thought, I just don't want our daughter not knowing who her grandmother is"

A big grin suddenly appears on Peeta's face and I raise my eyebrow in confusion as to why he is smiling like an idiot. "Why are you grinning like that?"

"You keep referring to her as 'our daughter' "

"So?"

"You want a girl?"

"I want a healthy, happy baby."

He leans down and kisses me, I grab his hand and bring it to my stomach. He smiles into the kiss and my heart drops completely. This man means everything to me, he is my fiance and the father of my baby. I don't know what I'm going to do without him. A small knock on the room door causes our lips to part. Gale is standing there with his arms crossed leaning against the door frame. I sit up in bed, resting my back against the headboard. Peeta kisses my forehead and get off the bed completely, the look in Gale's eye tells me something happened and I don't have to guess as too what that something is I already know by Johanna piercing screams and cries.

"Commander Creft wants to see you" He says pointing to Peeta.

Peeta is quiet for a moment then he clears his throat and speaks, "Rend's uh..." He bites his lip and looks over at me, unsure if he should finish his sentence. Gale nods his head slowly and I feel a sort of tightness in my chest. Johanna's boyfriend and the man that pushed me hard through training was gone. He had taken a bullet to the heart and was dead before he even hit the ground. When will the killing stop, how much blood has to be shed until peace hits us for good.

"Creft is in charge now?"

"Yes, He was second in command now he's first" Gale explains.

"What's going on now?" I question.

"Well The area is secure, all thats left to do is escort you out of here, find Wadera and kill him. Mellark and I have that under control" Gale says.

"So, Your not coming with me?" I ask Peeta, staring into those beautiful blue orbs I felt my heart drop. I can't leave this man I love him to much and how many times do I have to tell him that we are stronger together. I bite my lip and stare at the ground, trying to control the urge not to cry. I have been crying so much lately because of the baby. I"m so sick of it. I get up from the bed and stumble over to where Peeta and Gale stood. Peeta looks at me worriedly and I know he thinks I"m going to start protesting on the escort. I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him, the pain in my arms sting, but I could care less all I want from him is to be held and comforted.

Gale rubs the back of his head and awkwardly clears his throat. "I'll uh...Leave you two to talk" He says and disappears from the train's large bedroom.

"You better come back to me" I mumble into his chest.

"Always."

I stare hard into his eyes and feel the tears swell up in my own eyes. "I mean it,Peeta, I need you. She needs you." I place his hands against my stomach and he goes in for a kiss which I gladly except. We kiss for a couple of seconds then I rest my head on his chest.

"I promise you I'll be back before you know it"

Peeta and I walk hand and hand off the train and into the cool station, where the smell of blood suddenly pierces my nostrils. I place my hand over my mouth and nose trying to get the urge to throw up to pass. The squad stood in a tight circle, deep in conversation and as soon as they saw Peeta and I appear off the train, their conversation came to an immediate stop. Creft approached us and placed a hand on Peeta's shoulder.

"We're ready when you are" He says and Peeta nods his head in understanding.

"What's the plan?" Peeta questions.

"Well, we escort the mockingjay out of the city. The escorts will be Mr. Fredrickson and Miss. Carter" Great I had to deal with that woman that flirted with Peeta during the training sessions. Well at least Naomi knew material arts so if we really got into trouble she could kick some serious ass. I wouldn't want to mess with someone like her or anger her for that matter. I see Hass and Naomi stumble their way over to me. Hass pulls me into a friendly hug and steps on the train. Naomi just shoots me a hard look and she too stepped on the train after Hass.

Creft turns to Delly-who is in Gale's arms. "Miss. Cartwright will you be going with them?"

Gale answers for her. "Yes she will. I don't want her here any longer"

"Very well" Creft nods his head in agreement. "Take your time in saying goodbye we depart in 10 minutes."

I turn to Peeta and connect our lips in an instant. I only had 10 minutes left to be with him and I feel the sad emotions begin to rise and I fight the urge to cry my eyes out at the fact that we are going our separate ways again. I kiss him like I have never kissed anyone before. My hands are running through his blond hair and My fingernails are digging into is scalp. It hurts like hell to grip his hair like this, my arms are still wounded, swollen and bandage, But I don't care I deepen the kiss even more, not caring who in the train station is watching us kiss. We eventually break for air and he rests his forehead against mine.

"I hate this" I mumble and kiss him again.

"It won't be forever, a couple weeks at the most."

"That's what you said last time. You had every intention of leaving me last time" I pouted.

"It's different this time" He says.

"I love you"

"I love you too" Peeta replies and kisses me. "I'll be back for the both of you." He places his hands against my stomach, hoping to feel the baby kick or something, but no she is still too little to kick which disappoints me. I really want her to kick, just to make sure she is really in there and that she is forming well, that she is healthy and happy. Peeta takes me into his arms and hugs me and as he does I glance over his shoulder and quickly glance at Gale and Delly. They were kissing and hugging just like Peeta and I were doing. I smiled into Peeta shoulder at the sight. I'm glad he found someone that loves him for him and I hope to god that his relationship with Delly works out. They are so cute together. That reminded me that I needed to say goodbye to Gale. Peeta took his arms off of me and let them drop to his side. He kissed me again, this time the kiss lingered. When we parted I shrugged out of him grip and told him to hang on a second. I wanted to say goodbye to Gale, but wasn't quiet done saying goodbye to him. I padded my way over to where Gale and Delly stood. I heard and 'I love you' come out of Gale's mouth and the smile appeared back on my lips. He kissed her one more time before turning his attention to me.

"Catnip,You better take care of yourself and that baby" Gale tells me.

"I will...just...please watch your back. Your my best friend and I can't loose you either. I need you...I need my friend."

"I'll be alright" He takes a step forward and pulls me into a giant hug. My sore arms go around his waist and we standing there hugging, his lips are suddenly at my ear and he whispers, "I'll look after him."

"Promise?"

"Yes" He whispers.

My goodbye with Gale was brief and short. When we were done I appeared next to Peeta and wrapped my arms around him. I didn't want to let him go. He led me over to the train and helped me inside. I let a couple tears fall from my eyes. "I love you so much" I tell him. He said he loves me too, he says he will be back, he kisses me and that is that he is off the train and away from me and his baby. I let the tears fall, at least we weren't mad at each other this time, at least we didn't break-up before going our separate ways. The train begins to move, I sit on one of the fancy chairs staring out the window. Peeta is standing there watching the train move from the station. He catches my eye and smiles at me, mouthed the words 'I love you' just before it pulls out of the station. Tears are falling from my eyes and I wrap my arms gently around our baby. Hass comes up and takes a seat next to me, he set a warm glass of coffee in front of me and motions for me to drink. I don't want it. I'm too depressed to drinking anything right now, besides every time I drink coffee it upsets the baby and I end up throwing it up.

"Are you alright kitten?" Hass asks.

I shake my head. "Here we are again, journeying into the unknown. The whole purpose for leaving twelve was to be with him and now..." I bite my lip and rub my forming baby, "Look at me now, Pregnant again...away from Peeta and My life is once again threatened."

I looked out the train window and saw the capitol become distant. I place my hand on the cool glass and thought of Peeta. How long before I get the news that the monster killed him and is coming for me next. I can't bare the thought of our baby never knowing her father. I can't be like Annie. I saw what Finnicks death did to her, what its still doing to her and if anything ever happened to Peeta I think I'd die.

"We'll be alright" Hass smiles. Just then Naomi enters the room and takes a seat next to Hass. She narrows her eyes at me and scoops the coffee that I had rejected into her hands, taking a large gulp, her eyes were still on me as she drank the contents. I knew she didn't like me for some strange reason, oh well she'd just have to get over it and protect me and listen to her orders.

"We're headed to the mountains, its on the edge of Panem, It's on the boarder between North Panem and South Panem."

"South Panem?" I questioned her with a confused expression.

"Yeah didn't you know there was a South Panem?" Naomi asks. She stares at me as if I'm stupid or something. How the hell was I supposed to know there were other countries out there. I never really paid attention in school. My first and only priority was to feed my mother and sister. Learning was far from my mind then and its still far from my mind now. All I can think about now is my baby's survival. Peeta's survival and My own. The three of us sat in silence, listening the the soft hum of the train as it gently took off down the rail. The city was long gone and the hole in my heart was back. I wrapped my hands around my stomach and excused myself from the table, padding my way towards an empty bed compartment. I curled up in a ball and began wishing Peeta was here to hold me, to kiss me and to comfort me. I needed him like I needed air, but I knew I had to give into his wish and protect myself and the baby. I sat up on the bed with my back against the headboard and the blankets drawled up to my chin. There was a knock on the door, I shouted for them to enter and in comes kind, sweet Delly. She comes in and takes a seat on the bed. I shoot her a small smile and proceed in staring out the window.

"Are you alright?" She asks sweetly and I really wish people would stop asking me that. Of course I'm not alright. I nod my head though and lie to her, tell her everything is alright. She is no idiot though. She sees right through me.

"I'm scared,Del" I finally manage to choke out, "Scared for this baby, I don't want her to be raised in such a hellhole And if Wadera takes over-" She shush me and moves on the bed grabbing into a friendly hug.

"He won't okay the squad won't let him. Peeta won't let him"

"Peeta suggested we leave Panem, get away from it all and you know what I'm really considering it. My Mother would understand. I want a peaceful life with him is that so much to ask for. No wars, no cameras, no uncertainty, Just love, pure passionate love in our lives thats all I want. I thought all this was over, but I guess it never will be over as long as he lives. This guy hates me because I survived and his brother didn't. I caused him pain because..." She cuts me off.

"NO, it s not your fault you did what you had to do in order to survive. That is not your fault. You were 16 years old, Katniss, You had every single right to fight for your life, all of you did. You and Peeta have a purpose. You were meant to get out of that arena, you were meant to save hundreds of children from the same fate. You brought good to the world, you and Peeta both did that. Both of you have a purpose now"

I opened my mouth to say something back to her but a loud popping noise and the shake of the train caused me to bolt off the bed and head over to the window. I peered out the glass window into the rainy day and my heart sank as large hovercraft came zooming in from every directions. I didn't even have to guess as too who they belonged to and it didn't take long for them to find me. They were firing at us, trying to do everything in their power to disable the train. The train let off another shake and I stumbled backwards a bit. Delly sat on the mattress looking absolutely terrified.

"What's happening?" She questions in fear.

"What do you think. How do he know my every damn move!" I am frustrated at the fact that I can't even escape the city without him knowing my exact location. How does he know so much, but then again it is Snow's little bitch so I guess I can see him knowing everything about me. Snow knew everything about me. That time when Gale and I kissed in the woods, Snow figured that out, someone he knew. He probably had people following me. I fell backwards as the train shook hard and made a grinding noise, it suddenly came to a complete stop and the smell of smoke filed my nostrils.

"We got to get out of here" I tell Delly.

Just then the door opened and in came Hass and Naomi looking frantic, they had loaded guns in their hands and a serious expression written across their face. Hass crossed the room and help me stand on my feet.

"Those damn peacekeepers forced the train to stop, hit the rail and everything. We had no choice but to pull the emergency stop, it was either that or go over the rail into the woods and hope for survival." Naomi explained.

"So they blew the rail up hoping we would stop?" I ask.

Naomi nods, "Yes and now we have to get out of here before they come on board. I'm pretty sure your little buddy is waiting for you in one of them hovercraft. Damn it how did they get to us so fast"

"There has to be a spy in the squad team" Hass suggested.

"Or they were waiting to get us alone"

I was silent for a moment. Wadera was here I just knew it. I suddenly pull a spare gun from Hass's belt and loaded it. I wonder if Wadera likes the taste of iron. Hass handed me a few spare bullets and I slipped them into my jeans pocket. There was another shaking of the train and poor Delly let out a loud squeal in fear. I took my place beside my friend and placed a comforting hand on top of her shoulder. I handed her my gun and told her to use it to protect herself. She obeyed and took the small deadly weapon from me. I turn to Hass asking for another one. He didn't have anymore. With that being that, we left the bedroom and journeyed through the damage train. The smell of smoke was incredibly heavy in the air. I nearly choked with every breath I took. I placed my shirt over my nose and followed Hass and Naomi towards the exit of the train. Hass pushed open the train door and all four of us stared at the ground. We were at least 100 feet above the ground. If we jumped we would die.

"There is no way we are getting off of here" Naomi pointed out.

"Well we can't stay on this train. Its on fire and peacekeepers are bound to board and start looking for her."

Naomi rolled her eyes and then snapped. "Let him have her, if you keep running like this he will never stop killing and destroying. Go with him"

I stared at Naomi with such hatred lingering in my eyes. How dare she suggest something like that. "I'm pregnant for god sakes and your telling me just to go with him so he can kill me and my baby."

"He'd be easier to kill." She says.

"How can be possibly be easier to kill?" I hiss. "He has tons of Snow's loyal Peacekeepers following him and I"m pretty sure he is tired of playing cat and mouse. He'd kill me on the spot now"

"I'm not so sure, Katniss, He got something up his sleeve. You ran into the man four times and in those four times he could of killed you, but he didn't so what's that telling you?"

"I know he got my death all planned out."

"He's got the be planning something" Just then a whole shit load of peacekeepers rounded the corner and as soon as they saw us, they started firing. We took cover and Naomi started firing back along with Hass. I stayed up against the wall, panting, fearing for my baby. I watched Hass and Naomi take them down one by one, but no matter how many they took down more would come and soon we were finally surrounded. Hass and Naomi remained in a defensive stance while Delly and I coward up against the wall.

"We got them boss" A peacekeeper said into a small device that was lodged into his ear under his helmet.

"Give me your weapons" One ordered.

"I'll give you a weapon alright" Naomi pointed her gun at the guy and fired, killing him in an instant. Three men came over and smashed her in the face, sending her hurling to the ground. They yanked her weapon away and she now lay defenseless against the cold, hard ground. One of them hovered over her and cuffed her hands together. They did the same thing to Hass and Delly. They escorted my friends out of the train and into the large hovercraft above us. I cannot believe this was happening to me.

"Where are you taking them!" I shout.

"Don't worry dear, Your friends have a purpose in the boss's plan" He chuckled.

"What kind of security do you people have on these trains. It was so easy to blow the tracks and make you people stop and it was also so easy to kill the driver and the maids. Two guards and a scared little girl thats all Paylor gave you? Sad" The peacekeeper walked over to me and roughly forced me on my feet. His long white finger grazed the side of my cheek and I shudder at contact. "OH...Your so beautiful. It's such a shame we have to destroy that pretty little face of yours. No wonder that trash from district 12 tried to have his way with you. Look at you." He runs his hands down my arms and around my waist. "Beautiful. Olive skin hmmm...nice tight ass" He grips my rear-end hard and I slap him in the face as hard as I can. He head goes to the side and he stares at me in disbelief.

"Don't you bare touch me again, Mockingjay bitch" He throws a punch and it hits me in the face. He grabs me by throat throat and I cough out a bit, "You'll pay for that one bitch." He lifts his fists again but before he has the chance to hit me a loud gunshot sound filled my ears and the man dropped to the ground. I looked to where the gunshot came from and my heart pounded in my chest as two familiar hateful brown eyes stared me in the face.

"Nobody is going to stop me this time,Mockingjay, Your friends are in my custody and their is no squad here to save you." He starts walking towards me and I back myself up against the wall. He kicks the body he just shot and chuckles, "Dumb bloke can't follow orders." He stops in front of me and places his hands on either side of my cheeks. "Your so beautiful, but deadly" And with that said he bangs my head off the train wall hard and everything goes black.

I don't know how long I have been out, but when I do finally come to I am laying on a cold metal table. My arms hurt so badly, being strapped and bound. My white bandages are no longer covering my wounds. My feet are tied as well and there is a blindfold covering my eyes. I feel the cold air brush over my bare skin. What? Bare? Did they do something to me? Why did they take off my clothes. I started thrashing against the restraints in hopes of breaking them. No such luck I wasn't strong enough. I soon hear a chuckle and then footsteps. The blindfold is lifted off of me and I stared in Wadera's hateful eyes.

"Good morning" He greets.

I remain silent.

"I have you at last" He smiles and run a hand through his greasy brown hair, "Murderer, You took a son, a brother, a boyfriend and a friend and you didn't even fucking care."

"You know nothing" I yelled.

"I know lots. You pushed him off the Cornucopia. You laughed while the mutts ripped him to shreds. You rolled around in his blood after the cannon went off and the mutts clear. You and Peeta fucked by his body in celebration"

"None of that is true, Did you not watch the games!" I scream.

He chuckles for a moment, then his face becomes serious and he slaps the shit out of me. "I'm not stupid, Katniss, Snow showed me everything. I watched it on film."

"I don't know what that sick bastard showed you, but none of what your telling me is true"

He places both hands on either side of the table and shook it in anger, "DON'T LIE!" He screams.

"I'm not lying!" I boldly scream back.

He takes the time to strike me in the face again. "Okay whore on fire, tell me then what happened."

"He fell off. He had Peeta in a headlock...I fired an arrow at him and he fell from the cornucopia. The mutts tore him apart. Snow could of stopped it, you know he could of. Cato begged me to end his suffering and I did out of pity. His last words were please"

"You lie bitch...Snow told me and showed me the clips from the games and my brother would never beg."

I looked at him and complete confusion. I began wondering if Snow did some editing to the clips from the Hunger Games that way it would look like Peeta and I were celebrating by making love. Either that or Snow hijacked him like he did Peeta. I stare up into this mans eyes and can't believe the amount of hatred I see in them. I didn't think it was possible for another human being to hate this much. Wadera stays their, hovering over me, motionless, waiting for me to say something, anything. We I don't say anything he walks away and out of the room. I take the time to try and pull the bounds that have my legs and hands tied together, but no such luck. It just wont budge. I try for a good five minutes, but quit once I hear Wadera reenter the room. He is pushing something because the sound of squeaky wheels on a cart echo the room. I turn my head and gasp lightly. He was pushing a cart full of weapons. Was his big plan to torture me? Not much of a big plan if you ask me.

"Really? Your so pathetic" I spat out bravely. "Your big plan is to torture me"

"Yes and no" Wadera says pushing the cart right up against the large wall. "I spent countless hours following us, studying your weakness and strength and I think I know the girl on fire pretty well now. You love your friends and family and although I am pretty upset I wasn't able to get to your mother in that shit hole district 12 I wasn't lying when I told you I would kill dear Annie Cresta and son." I whip my head to the side and stared hatefully at him. I could feel the tears start to surface as Annie and Sweet little Finn's face came to my mind.

"What did you do to them!" I scream

Wadera laugh, "Don't worry their alive for now. Alive and ready. Damn fools sent to protect them fail miserably."

"Ready for What?" I hiss.

Wadera grins, "Their ready, some of my well chosen men are ready, your little friend Delly, Hass and Naomi are all ready to participate. And all you have to do is sit back and watch your friends die. After their deaths I'll move on to your fiance and shoot him in the back of the head just like I had planned. That little shit is already supposed to be dead. I'll nuke your defense building and your home..." He bites his lip and laughs at the thought of bombing up district 12, "Snow already got the job done in blowing up your pathetic home. too bad you people were smart enough to rebuild it"

"Where are my friends?"

"Getting prepared" He answers.

"Getting prepared for what?"

Wadera smile is so big and bright that it sends shivers down my spine. "The first year of the new and improved Hunger Games. This year we welcome them back to Panem and what a perfect way to start them off with the mockingjay's friends and the mockingjay herself."

"You can't be serious" I chuckle without humor, "Your throwing me into an arena...again?"

"Not you, you get to watch them kill your friends."

"This was your big plan? To reconstruct an arena, throw my friends-who are well trained solider into battle with a bunch of low-life peacekeepers. God your so pathetic"

"Shut up bitch, you don't understand" He says and moves towards me grabbing me by the throat and applying a bit of pressure. "I want Snow's work to live on. I want to take my rightful place as president of Panem. I want to give the people a taste of the old capitol's ways. The Hunger Game's seer purpose was a punishment and to keep the commoners in line. It worked for 75 years until you came along and shattered it. They have been gone for five years and that upsets me. We all could of have five victors and 115 glorious deaths by now."

"Your sick and you don't make sense. I don't understand what you want from me. Is it revenge or are you just playing games with me."

"I want to kill you for what you did to my brother, for what you did to this country. For the equal rights you presented to the commoners."

I snorted and rolled my gray eyes. "Do I look like the president. Equal rights comes from Paylor and you want to know something. She is one hell of a president. She treats her people right, abolished the Hunger Games for good. Set up a good defense team to rid the world of people like you. Your an idiot...go ahead and kill me, you'll only heal your revenge towards me, but I tell you this No matter how hard you try to take over Panem You'll always fail because they will be one-step ahead of you. Evil always fails. Even after I'm dead, The people will still view me as a hero and your children's children will always know what the mockingjay has done for the country of Panem and how she put monsters like President Snow and Wadera in their place."

"You have a lot of confidence in yourself don't you" Wadera grins.

"I just think what your planning to do will fail. The Hunger Games are illegal...You'll face the death penalty. And they'll make sure its a painful one if you end up killing me."

"Do you think it's wise to be threatening me at a time like this? Because I could easily take something near and dear to you" He smiles and runs his hands over my smooth flat stomach. The baby. I forgot about the baby. I bit my lip, wanting desperately to wrap my arms around my forming baby and protect her from this monster that was now in the process of running a blade against my stomach. He applies a little bit of pressure and I wince.

"I could cut it out right now and gut you like a fish, that would be so much fun, But it also would be a detour in my plan. After my games are over, you will crown the victor, no matter who it is. You'll get on live TV and tell the whole nation why you think Paylor should resign and you'll give them a well written speech. If you do all those things and everything goes according to plan I'll let you live until you give birth."

I stare at him in horror, "You want my baby?"

"I can take it or leave it, If you put a toe out of line I'll cut it out of you and kill you. Which I'm hoping that you wont do that. The mockingjay's baby will be fun to raise"

The look in his eyes tells me he is serious about everything that is coming out of his mouth. I find myself in a very serious situation, What am I going to do? How am I going to deal with this guy for the next nine months. My only hope is for Peeta and the others to come and find me, and find me fast because I got a feeling Wadera did construct an arena and had every intentions of putting Hass, Naomi, Delly, Annie and little Finn. Their lives were in the palm of his hands.

To be continued...


	27. AN

Sorry not a chapter, but a really important note.

I just want to make things crystal clear, If you are not enjoying this story please stop reading, nobody is forcing your eyes on this print. I don't understand why some of you have to use foul lanuage in your reviews, If your not happy with the story then your not happy. I don't expected everyone to like it, but if you don't like it don't take it out on me and call me names. I write what is in my heart and in my brain, I write because I love fanfiction, If your bored or you hate it thats your problem. If you wanna quit reading thats fine your reviews and presence will be missed. As for not updating I do have a life and a job I can't spend all day on the computer like some of you. My job is running me into the dirt and I'm surpirised I even have time to sleep. For those of you that have supported me and reviewed this story I am grateful and love all of you and I'll continued to write. For you guys. For those of you that haved called me names and have ignorantly flamed my story all I got to say is your loss, please leave the story and bring your drama elsewhere because really I don't want to hear it and I'm sure other people don't want to here it either. With that being said I hope you good reviewers continue to enjoy and read the story and I'll try my hardest to update faster, but there is no promises chapters will be coming in faster. I will certainly try though. Thank you for taking the time to read this and again I love all the good people reading this. :).

-Hordefighter


	28. Escapees

Thank you all for your friendly comments and please know the AN is targeting haters only. Anyway I didn't want Katniss to be kidnapped for long, just long enough so for those of you that wanted romance, don't worry some is definitely coming. Btw my chapters may get shorter as I go, it takes me a long time to write long chapter, maybe cutting down the length will help me update faster. I spent almost my entire day off writing this. I don't want to disappoint anybody by not updating, you guys mean a lot and I don't want to anger anyone.

Chapter 27

Escapees

(Katniss's POV)

I tug on the ropes that bind my hands together above my head. They will not budge, he has tied them tight and there is no escape for me. I'm still only wearing my undergarments, so the soft gentle breeze that passes in the room makes me shiver. I'm extremely cold and I wish Wadera would be nice enough to throw a blanket over my body. No such luck, He is a foul human being and would kindly decline my request for a blanket. The room is dark and damp, the walls bare and stony. The only source of light that shines through room is coming from the large flat screen TV that Wadera placed at the end of the table. I knew as soon as a picture came into focus Delly, Hass and Naomi will be fighting for their lives. I can't believe how retard Wadera's plans are. Having me give a speech to the people as to why President Paylor should resign as president. The large steel door opens and one of the peacekeepers comes in holding a tray full of food. I turn my head to the side barely catching a glimpse of what was on that plate. It looks like stale bread and soup. I refuse to eat any of it. I don't trust anything they have to offer, they could easily drug me, poison me or give me that drug to increase my pregnancy speed. The peacekeeper comes over to the table and sets the food on the ground. His dark eyes wandering up and down my half-naked body. I feel self-conscious, only one man has seen me like this and I want to keep it that way.

"Feeding time, Bitch" He grins and picks up the tray of food only to set it on my stomach. The metal pate makes my body shiver and I gasp out as to how cold it is, "Wadera says to untie you and let you eat and if you do anything that pisses me off I"m allowed to hit the shit out of you" I wanted to talk back to him, yell at him, anything, but I kept my mouth shut and waited for him to untie the tight rope. He did and I rubbed my sore arms. I sat up, feeling the muscles in my back crack. He untied the legs and allowed me to stretch my sore muscles. I stood from the metal table in only my bra and underwear. The man grin at me, his yellow teeth appearing between his lips. I wrapped my arms around my body, trying to hide myself from his view. There was only one man allowed to look at me like that and that was Peeta.

"So beautiful, but yet so deadly" He grinned.

I ignored him and limped back and fourth across the room, stretching my tired muscles. I had to do something I had to escape this prison and make it back into the arms of the man I love. The man forced my movements to come to a stop and placed a hand on my shoulders. He pushed me across the room, keeping his hands on my bare back. I came to a stop in front of my plate of food. The bread was stale and moldy. The soup was nothing but water.

"Eat, your pacing is getting on my nerves" He hissed.

"I need to use the restroom" I blurted out.

He raised his eyebrows and stares at me in suspiciously, "Your up to something now shut up and eat." He is right I am up to something, I need to get out of here. Escape and find my friends, I need to end this once and for all. I narrow my eyes at him and burst into fake tears, placing my hands over my eyes.

"Your not letting a pregnant woman use the bathroom" I cry. He is quiet and I peer through the cracks of my fingers to see if he is buying it. He's not. He's just standing there, Arms folded, burrows furrowed and jaw set. He groans and grips my shoulder hard, pushing me into the metal table towards the food again. "Eat I'll be right back, got to get permission from the boss" He is out of the room before I can even respond and I quickly start to search the room for anything and everything I can get my hands on. I needed a weapon and cloths. I found my t-shirt and sweatpants laying in the corner of the room. As quickly as I could I scooped them up into my arms and got dressed. I felt a little better as my clothes hid my bare body. I was shaking as I scrambled through the room, trying to find anything that I could use as a weapon. The sound of footsteps outside the room made my heart pound hard in my chest. The peacekeeper had come back. He opens the door and stands in the doorway, peering his eyes up at me.

"What are you doing?" He questions looking at my now clothed body.

"I'm freezing, I need to use the bathroom and this is not the proper food you people should be feeding a pregnant woman."

He crosses the room in three long strides and grips me by the arms. Hard. "Wadera says piss on the floor" He chuckles.

I raised my eyebrow up at him in anger, "Really! your not going to let me pee. I have a baby forming inside of me how can you be so-" I'm cut off as his hand connects with my cheek. My head falls to the side and there is a stinging in my cheek. He grabs me by the arms again and hoists me up and onto the metal table again. He throws the plate of food on the ground and the contents go everywhere. The soup and stale bread is everywhere on the cement floor. He fiddles with the ropes that had my hands and feet together and I now know that he is planning to retie me. I need to get away so I do the first thing I can think of and shove the heel of my foot into his face. I do it quickly and as hard as I can. There is a sick cracking noise and the peacekeeper stumbles back in pain, clutching his now bloody nose. I hop off the table and kick him between the legs, making him howl in pain and drop to his knees. He is making so much noise that I'm afraid someone will come in here. I have to act fast or He'll recover and beat the hell out of me. I scoop the metal plate up from the ground and go after him with it, removing his helmet I hit him multiple times with the plate until he was out cold and unmoving.

My whole body is shaking I let the plate drop to the ground and started to search the peacekeepers, that lay passed out at my feet. He had a gun, knife, and a wallet. I took all three and also stripped him of his uniform. I slid on his pants which were a bit baggy, his t-shirt which was really big, his shoes, gloves, and helmet. The uniform stunk and the shoes were too big, but it was the best plan I had right now. I only hope Wadera wouldn't walk in right here and now. Seeing his peacekeeper passed out cold on the floor would send him into a ragging fit and I could not get his words out of my mind. If I put one toe out of line Saffra is as good as dead. I looked down at the peacekeeper laying in front of me and debated weather or not I should just leave him out in the open like this. Anyone could waltz right into the room and figure out that I had bashed his head in with my dinner plate. Then someone would sound the alarm, They would find me and Wadera will kill my baby. With all the strength I could muster up, I lifted this man off the ground by the arm and dragged him to the corner of the room. It was dark in that part of the room and anyone who walked in wouldn't be able to tell there was a body over there, that was how dark it was.

The baby must not have liked my strained movements because an urge to throw up passed through my body, I remove the helmet and upchuck all over Wadera's ugly cement floor. After I was done emptying my contents I dipped my hand into the uniform pockets and felt around for anything. There were keys in his pocket and of course his wallet. I took the keys out and made my way over to the door. It was already unlocked because of his arrival to my room. I cautiously peered down the hallway and caught sight of two peacekeepers chatting away with each other. They were standing in front of another big, heavy metal door. I look a deep breath and entered the hallway, closing and locking the door behind me. I started walking down the hall towards the peacekeepers. My heart pounding hard in my chest, the baby fluttered in my stomach. They caught sight of me and I froze. I feel like they can se right through me, but as soon as smiles spread across their faces I felt somewhat at ease, but not too much.

"Is that mockingjay bitch behaving, Keen?" They question.

I simply nodded.

"Its so unfair, why can't Wadera let us have a little hip action with her? I mean he wants her to suffer and she is a woman she should pleasure us"

"She is pregnant idiot. Wadera doesn't want anything to happen to that baby."

I cocked my head to the side and stared at them curiously. The peacekeeper saw my behavior and raised an eyebrow. "You feeling alright, Keen?"

"Yes" I said in my deepest, manly voice I could come up with.

"Good, Now, Anyway Wadera wants that mockingjay's baby. So that way when he is gone someone will take his place."

"How does he even know this plan is going to work, That he is going to succeed in overthrowing the new capitol"

"He is too confident"

"I Don't know how I'm going to put up with the sight of the mockingjay bitch for 9 months, Why can't he just give her a drug and make her pregnancy go faster. They did it before when Snow was President, but now that drug is illegal." I was drinking in every word these idiots were saying. This was news to me. Wadera had no intentions of killing my baby it was just a threat. He needed her for something and I'll be damned if he raises her and poisons her mind with hate. I tune in and continue to listen to their conversation.

"Because dummy that drug will make the kid a retard, besides its best to let her pregnancy run its course that way the little bastard will be healthy, happy and ready to raise."

"It's unfair, Woman can have sex while their pregnant. So why can't we just...have her"

"Because she is mine" Came a voice from behind. A voice that sent goose bumps to my arms. The two peacekeepers whipped their head around and immediately shut up, "The mockingjay is mine to beat, to torture, to have sex with if I please. I've waited years to pull this plan off and I"m so close, there is no way in hell you guys are going to screw this up." He takes out a gun and fires it at one of the peacekeepers that was standing there. He drops the the ground dead and the remaining peacekeepers looks terrified. He puts his hands up and Wadera tells him to get out and he scurries off. Wadera turns his attention to me and tucks the gun away. The peackeeper and I were almost the same size,. The only thing that could give me away were the shoes.

"Did she eat?"

"No" I say in a deep voice. The deepest I can go.

Wadera' lifts an eyebrow and stares at me long and hard for a couple of minutes. "Well I'm off to my quarters. I came down to tell my head peacekeeper to close up for the night and that I grant you permission to have fun with the female prisoners in block A, but be careful that huge black-haired asshole is crazy. By the way the tributes will be ready by tomorrow. The arena is ready to go"

"Yes sir" I salute him the best way I could.

"Are you feeling alright?" Wadera asks suspiciously.

"I'm sick, sir" I reply.

Wadera narrows his eyes at me and bites his lip. I'm scared that he is seeing right through me, but he just shrugs, "Feel better then" He walks off and I stare after him. He's not an idiot. That was something I was not expecting. He had a gentler side towards the people he liked and I'm guessing he liked his head peacekeeper Keen. Wait until he finds the mans body on the cold, hard ground in my cell, He's going to be really pissed off at me. Hopefully we will be long gone by the time they discover I have left my room. I walk down the hallway examined every room number. I passed Block, AA, C, EF, And finally came to a stop at block A, this was where Wadera said he was keeping my friends. I fished through the peacekeepers pockets and pulled out the keys. I looked left and then right, making sure nobody was in the halls. I stuck the key into the door and let it fall opened. I entered the room and peered around, not expecting what was going to happen next. As soon as I entered a large man grabbed me up by the neck and squeezed. Hass stood there, hatred in his eyes squeezing the life out of me.

"Hass..." I choked out, "It's...me"

He let go of me, a guilty look spread across his features. He closed the door behind me and yanked off my helmet. "Kitty, I'm so sorry." He pecked me on the head, "Please forgive me. Please. I thought you were a peacekeeper" He tried to soothe me, but I was coughing so bad because of his tight grip that I thought I was going to fall over. "So sorry" He kept apologizing.

Naomi and Delly came out of the shadows. As soon as Delly saw me, she let out a sob and rushed over to me, pulling me into a gentle hug. "How did you escape?"

"I kicked the head peacekeeper in the face. We don't have much time, chances are he'll wake up any minute and start pounding on the door" I say.

Hass chuckled and Naomi shoots him a sideways glance. "You managed to kick a peacekeeper in the face, I knew you were strong kitty."

I shoot Hass a friendly smile and take the time to glance around at my two friends and the woman that has it out for me. I don't know how we are going to pull it off, but I was certain by the end of the night I will be back in Peeta's arms and Wadera will be six feet under. Enough violence, enough death and war this man was going to his grave and I was going to put him there, but first I had to find out if he truly had a cure to Peeta's hijacking or if it was all one big lie.

(Peeta's POV)

I threw a glass vase across the room, shocking the hell out of the president and two male guards she had with her. The guards had their hands on their guns just in case my mind leaves me and I go all psycho on them. Anger boiled inside of me at the thought of that sick freak Wadera blowing up the train and kidnapping Katniss. I stare angrily at Paylor and debated weather or not I should shove my fist in her face. I quickly decided against it, not only will I go to jail for assaulting a woman, but I am far from a women beater. I plop down on the couch and bury my head in my hands. Haymitch makes his way over to me and places his hand on my shoulder. I shrug him off, don't get me wrong I am happy Haymitch and Effie made a reappearance, but right now I just wanted to be left alone to my thoughts. I feel so guilty and angry at myself. She did this for me, she went on that train that was destined for the mountains for me and our baby. It's my fault she did what I asked her too. I wish the capitol would of gave her more protection. Did they not think, the man has been after her, waiting for the right time to attack and they didn't take the time to stack up on security and now not only do they have Katniss they have my best friend Delly, Katniss's friend Hass and that Naomi, which tell you the honest truth I don't know her so I really can't worry.

"I know your upset but please be aware we are trying our very best to find her." Paylor explains to me and all I want her to do is shut up. I open my mouth to say something smart but Gale cuts me off and steps forward.

"Where could he have taken my girlfriend and best friend?"

Paylor shrugs as if she doesn't know and doesn't care. "I really can't say at the moment, but the prisoner that was caught delivering the tape and trying to kill people might know."

I raised my eyebrow in shock, "Ceal lived?"

"The blond girl working for Wadera?"

I nodded.

"Yes, she has a mild case of head trauma and is being treated for that in the capitols hospital, but as soon as she is well she is going to jail for her crimes."

"I need to speak with her" I say calmly.

Paylor shakes her head, "I'm afraid thats not possible you see miss..."

"I don't care okay, I'm going to that hospital and if you want to stop me you'll have to shoot me. I'm going to do everything I can to get my fiancee out of this mess and when I do you people will never see us again do you understand. No more cameras in our district, no more interviews nothing and when she gives birth to my baby you people will not, I repeat will not come within 5000 miles of my daughter. This is all your fault, You had Hass go to district 12 to befriend Katniss and lead her back to the capitol. You used her to drawl out a criminal."

"She is our mockingjay and the people's hope" Paylor comments.

"Not anymore, I won't let you people ruin her life anymore"

I excuse myself from the room, all eyes were on my. I march out into the hallway of the presidents mansion, slamming the door to her study. I stomped down the hallway, determined to get to the hospital and have a friendly chat with my idiot co-worker, that is fired. I hear footsteps behind me and whip around, staring into the eyes of my old arch rival Gale. I stopped my movements and crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for him to start speaking.

"I love your best friend." He comments.

"Yeah and I love yours" I reply.

"I'm not going to sit around here waiting for Paylor to make up her mind. I'm going after Del and Catnip and I know your joining me too" Gale says.

"I'm going to that hospital, Ceal is our only hope. She has worked for Wadera, she has to know where he has taken her."

"What if she refuses to say anything?"

"Then it will be the first time you witness me hitting a woman while in a normal state of mind." I say seriously.

Gale lets a shocked smile appear on his face. He nods his head multiple times and starts walking down the long, fancy halls of the mansion. We were doing this here and now and I will go though anyone who tries to stop us. Nobody was going to get in the way, nobody was going to keep me from my child and my love. Ceal best cooperate with me and tell me what I want to know because if she doesn't I will kick the crap out of her until she does. I do not view that individual as a woman anymore. I have lost all respect for her. The day they told me her brother tried to rape Katniss was the day I lost my respect for her and her family members. She worked for me all those years, had friendly conversations, gave her the opportunity to make money and this is how she repays me. By having her brother try and rape the girl I am in love with? To join a group of psychos that want things the way they were. She begged Wadera to make me hers, to kill Katniss and erase my memories of her. The more I thought about it the more angry I got. I hadn't realized I stopped until Gale's snapped his large fingers in my face.

"Are you alright, Mellark?"

I blink a couple of times and glanced around. We were standing at the top of the stairs, my fist were clutched. My nails were digging into my palms so hard that small amounts of blood started seeping through the cracks of my fingers.

"I'm fine, just thinking to much"

"Listen, Mellark, if you fall into one of your freak episodes while we are on this trip I can't promise that I wont defend myself."

"You should defend yourself" I say

While I was being tortured by Snow and his men they did use Gale in some of their fake flashbacks. So he had every right to be cautions around me. I couldn't promise him I wouldn't go all rogue on him, better safe then sorry. Gale and I exited the presidents mansion and took a cab to the large building in the middle of the city. I have only been here one other time and that was when Katniss wanted to check on her friend. I pay the cab driver and we both exited the vehicle and stood in front of the massive building. I looked over at Gale and he gave me a small nod. I took a deep breath and prayed to god Ceal would cooperate. We entered the lobby building and the secretary with the wild green hair and green skin gave us a warm smile as we approached her desk.

"May I help you?" She greeted warmly.

"We're here to see a friend of ours" Gale smiled.

"Who may that be?"

"Ceal Nidana"

The girl was quiet for a moment, her blue eyes skimmed over the papers in front of her. She flipped through multiple pages before looking up at us with a serious expression on her face. "Nobody is to see Miss. Nidana. I'm sorry, she is a criminal in questioning."

"Please allow us to be quick, she is my sister and I am very worried about her" Gale said putting on the saddest face he could muster up. The girl looked at him in awe as he hung his head low. She bites her lip and peers around the lobby, making sure nobody had their eyes on us.

"Okay room 4AB, but make it quick I can get fired for this" She mutters quietly.

"Thank you so much" Gale brings his hand up and pinches the side of her cheek gently before bolting towards the elevator. I quickly trail behind him and as soon as the elevator door closes I narrow my eyes at him in a questioning way.

"I always get my way, women are so vulnerable to my good looks"

I roll my eyes at his cocky attitude and focus. He makes me sick sometimes. The elevator doors ding open and we bolt down the hall in search of the proper room. We finally found it and Gale doesn't bother to knock, he just plows right through. Ceal is laying in bed with a cloth on her head and an IV in her arm. It's the most pathetic thing I have ever seen in my whole life. She turns her head towards us and opens her eyes. As soon as she catches sight of Gale and I her eyes go wide and she goes for the button on her bed that will call a nurse. Gale was quick enough to snatch it and throw it to the ground.

"Leave me alone, I'm going to jail as it is" She whimpers.

"Where did he take her?" Gale hissed.

"Take who?" She asked laying dumb.

"Katniss, Delly, You know who ,stop playing dumb" Gale growled.

I step towards Ceal and put a hand on Gale shoulder, motioning him to take a step back. "Ceal, I know you know where he is hiding"

She snaps at us, "I'm not telling you people, that bitch deserves to die"

I snap and take a step forward, leaning down to grip her shoulders tightly. I shake her back and fourth and yelled, "That bitch is my fiancee and the mother of my child and if you don't tell me right here and now where Wadera took her I will kill you and make it look like a damn accident, Do you understand me."

Ceal frowns and stares at a spot on the wall. "I'll tell you where he is recruiting members, but I really can't say where hes taken the whore."

I make my hand into a fist and had every intentions of hitting the...I have to be respectful to woman no matter how foul and cruel they are. I take a deep breath and control the urges I have to rip her blond head off her body,

"Tell me now!" I demanded.

Ceal grins evilly, "I'll tell you on one condition."

I raised my brow up at her suspiciously.

"Give me a kiss"

I look at her as if she just pulled a gun out from under those white hospital sheets. "NO, I will not kiss you!"

"Then I wont tell you where she is, I'll just lay here, wait till my wounds heal and then go to jail for the rest of my life. I understand what I did was wrong. I did it out of jealousy and tell you the honest truth I don't care if Katniss lives or dies. She took you from me." Ceal cries.

"No, It was never you or any other girl from 12, I've loved her since I was five."

Gale raised his brow in curiosity.

"Stop lying to yourself, you know you had feelings for me the day you hired me in your bakery. You would smile at me, teach me how to kneed dough. I'd make you laugh and the way you looked at me..."

"Tell me where she is, please"

"Do you love her that much?" She cries, tears are running fast and hard down her face.

"Yes, I took beatings for her, I lost my leg for her, I've taken bullets for her, I fed her and saved her from starving-" Gale cut me off.

"You what?"

"It was a long time ago. I was baking and I heard my mother screaming at someone to get out of our trash. I went outside to snoop around and thats when I saw her under the tree, shivering from the rain. She was so skinny that I swear I could see her ribs. I had to do something I couldn't leave her like that. I went inside, burnt a couple loaves of bread and gave it to her. My mother beat the crap out of me for it but it was worth it. I saved her from starving."

Gale and Ceal were quiet for the longest time and I was dying to know what was going through their minds. Gale can see how much I loved and needed Katniss, that's why he did everything in his power to put his jealousy behind him. When he first arrived back to 12 after all those years of being away. He was angry and hateful, but as timed past he saw the love Katniss and I shared and backed off. I was also happy that he had managed to fall in love with my best friend. Which I'm not sure how that happened for the two of them, but I was still happy. I was happy that Gale found someone that could love him for him. I just never would of guessed it was my best friend.

"He's hiding on the outskirts of Districts 1 and 2, the people there are fond of him and the old capitol ways. He's got a couple buildings set-up and is going between those two districts recruiting members to join his peacekeeper units. There is a training building like the one you guys have here in the capitol. I'm not sure what the three other buildings are used for, but chances are You'll find your friends in one of those." Ceal mumbled.

I turn to Gale, "It's not that far, District 1 is an hour and thirty minutes away. District 2 is two hours away. We can make it there by sunset if we took a train"

Ceal starts shaking her head. "The place is heavily guarded they'll kill you on sight."

"I don't care I want her back" I say.

Ceal sighs, "I'm sorry, Peeta, For everything. I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't forgive myself. I'll enjoy my jail time, it gets me away from my abusive brother, which you can kill him if you want. He is a horrible human being. I'm his sister and he still decided to hit and leave marks on me."

"Your right I'm never going to forgive you for what you have done to Katniss and I will kill your brother I plan on it"

"I begged him not too, I just wanted him to rough her up a bit. I didn't know he'd try to rape her. Please believe me, I begged him to stop and then when he hit me I just ran and ran. I knew I made a mistake when I saw him get on top of her, its all my fault she was almost raped." She starts wailing and both Gale and I have to cover our ears, "York didn't come home for two nights, but when he did come home he was angry about something. He started bashing things around the house, yelling and cursing. I was so scared and then a couple days after that: he meet this guy from district 2, said his name was Keen. The guys said he was scouting the area looking for people to join a special organization. York was excited when the man told him that the organization hated the Mockingjay. He joined and I joined to because I hated her too. I deserve jail time for everything I have done"

"Yeah, you do deserve jail time" I agreed with her.

Ceal nods her head in agreement and clears her throat. "Please be careful, You don't know what Wadera is truly like, What he is capable of doing."

Nothing else was said Gale and I left her room and walked down the hallway in complete silence. I now knew where I needed to go and the border between 1 and 2 was my destination. I was going to go back, tell Paylor what I have discovered and I was going to save my bride to be.

"I'm going with you." Gale said as we walked out into the parking lot, "I'm in love with Delly and I shouldn't of just threw her on the train"

"Lets fix this and send that piece of trash straight to hell, Cure or no cure as soon as I have Katniss I'm leaving this part of the nation for going. I'm never coming back to the capitol or the districts that border it."

"Agreed" Gale nods his head and the two of us took off down the street in order to catch a cab. We needed to get back to the president's mansion as quick as possible and tell her we may have the location of Katniss's whereabouts.

(Katniss's POV)

It didn't take them long to figure out I had escape from my cell and was wandering around the building somewhere. A peacekeeper had entered my room to bring me breakfast and What do you know Head peacekeeper Keen was cursing up a storm, telling them how I kicked him in the face and then bashed his head in with a metal plate, knocking him out cold. They sounded the alarm and buzzed around like bees. That was the next morning after my escape. Hass, Delly, Naomi and I managed to slip out of the building during the night and bolted for the woods that was a couple miles in the distance. There was a fence we had to duck under and it almost reminded me of the one back home, the one that remained inactive for years and is now removed from sight. We had been walking for hours and hours and I was unsure how far we had gone, how deep in the woods we were. We were all tired, hungry and sore. All of us been through complete hell in the past 24 hours. I kept glancing over my shoulder expecting him to pop up behind me and kill me, but he didn't and thats when I truly realized that I had given him the slip for the thousandth time.

"Nobody's following us, Kitty" Hass gently says.

Naomi rolls her eyes. "Hass, you have always gotten on my nerves, You and your stupid nicknames" I pushed ahead until I was face to face with her and stop her dead in her tracks. She shoots me a deadly look and I have an urge to back off from her.

"Why do you got to talk to him like that" Naomi looks down at her nails and picks at them in boredom as I talk, not caring what I am saying. It is really obvious that this girl is going to be hard to get along with. "Hass has done nothing wrong to you"

Naomi glances up at me and shoots me a dirty look, "You Obviously don't know Hass like I do"

"Lets not get into it. Just...keep moving" Hass says.

Naomi growls, "Always walking away huh"

I have no idea what is going on, what I have just started, but I decrease my pace and walk side by side with Delly, trying to tune out the heated conversation between the two of them. I'd ask her later what her problem is with me, if she has a problem with me, but for right now the conversation going on is completely interesting.

Hass turns around so he is facing Naomi, "No, Just walking away from the problem"

Naomi's cheeks turn red with anger, "So I"m a problem now? Was I a problem then?"

I stepped in, not wanting these two to fight, "Lets just keep moving, find water and food, maybe somewhere to sleep for the night until we figure out what the plan is. I really don't think you two should-" Naomi cut me off.

"Get out of our business mockingjay" She snapped angrily.

"Please don't being rude to kitten"

"So sweet Hass sticking up for your new girlfriend, I thought you didn't want the burden of having someone close to you"

Hass gets a little angry and snaps. This is honestly the first time I have ever seen him mad. "Naomi, Knock the shit off! Leave Katniss out of this" I look between the two of them, they are staring each other down, neither one of them backing down without a fight. It was something Peeta and I would do when we were in the middle of a fight. He would keep running his mouth and so would I and that was exactly what these two were doing.

"I'm sorry did I anger you for insulting your kitty. Why do you call her kitty does she purr like one when you two are having..." Thats it I blew a gasket. I lunged forward and as hard as I could I punched her in the mouth. How dare she accuse Hass and I of...Gosh I don't even want to think about it.

"I have a fiancee bitch, I'm pregnant with Peeta's baby. So don't accuse me of cheating on him with one of my friends." This woman is foul and I began wondering why she was so nice to Peeta and not to me. Naomi had fire in her eyes and I wondered if she was actually going to hit me back, but she backed off and ran ahead of the group. Hass stood there with his mouth hanging open, unable to process what he had just witnessed. Delly just hung back and couple feet, trying to avoid the drama that was going on between the two of us. She really missed Gale, I could tell her heart was millions of miles away. Her heart was with him. After Naomi was out of earshot Hass turned to me with a look of apology written across his face.

"She doesn't get along with girls to well" Hass mumbles.

"I can tell" I grunted.

"Her angry was mostly towards me and I do deserve it"

I wanted to snoop further into their business, but decided against it. Whatever was going on or had been going on between the two of them was strictly their business. We walked through the forest for a couple more hours until we came to a large creek that reminded me so much of the creek that was in the first hunger games. Delly bolted for the creek and took handfuls of fresh spring water, gulping it down bit by bit.

"We should camp here for the night" I suggested.

"Sure, huh maybe we could start a fire. I'll find firewood" Hass offered.

"I'll...huh...hunt I suppose"

"Maybe you should take it easy. Don't strain the baby" Hass pats my stomach gently and I scowl at him.

"I'll be fine besides I'm not even showing yet, better get my hunting in now while I'm still thin. because in a couple months I'm going to look like a house."

"How you gonna hunt without a bow" Naomi asked in a snippy tone of voice. She was sitting on a moss covered rock staring at the water flowing from the creek. I hadn't realized she was carrying a book bag until she hopped off the rock and threw it at my feet.

"Where did you get that?" Hass asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know" She sneered.

Hass rolls his eyes and bends over, examining the book bag. Naomi takes off in the woods in search of anything she can find to eat. The book bag contains a couple canteens, chewing tobacco which is completely gross, a couple knives and the mother of all weapons. A bow and Arrow quiver filled with sixteen arrows. I am in complete heaven. What are the odds. The wicket witch of the west grabs a large bag from the peacekeepers and here it has a bow and arrows. This is no accident, someone up there wants me to succeed in making it out of this hellhole. I place the quiver on my back and grinned at Hass. He chuckles and grins back and takes the knives from the book bag, handing one to me and Delly.

"Wanna help collect firewood, Delly?" He ask.

"Sure" Delly says and off they go.

I grin to myself and take off into the woods. I wander around keeping my ears open and my sense sharp. I hear the snapping of a twig and turn around, bow at the ready. I crouch down and thats when I see it a gray and white squirrel chewing on leaves and collecting food. It looks like a male and it's definitely big enough to eat. I let my arrow fly and it hits it through the eyes. I feel bad about killing things, but for right now its about survival until we find a way to contact the capitol and to contact Peeta. I go to bend over and pick up my kill, as soon as I have the dead animal in my hand, my stomach turns, I drop it and I heave. The baby didn't like the smell. I threw up all over the forest floor, mentally apologizing to the woods for throwing up on its beautiful environment. Once I was done I heard a small snort behind me. I turn around and there she was: Naomi. She approaches me and I frown, holding my stomach, waiting for the baby to settle down.

"I'm sorry...about what I said back there. Hass...just...really pisses me off and I don't really get along with girls too much, well people really and I know I haven't given you a chance and its just...all a big mess."

"Its okay, I'm sorry I hit you. I just...these hormones are killing me. One minute I'm sad,angry, happy and then horny" She laugh at my last word and walks over, picking up the dead squirrel from the ground.

"I guess being pregnant is tough" She comments.

"It's awful" I say, "But I know its going to be worth it when I give birth. If I make it through labor, My mother's delivered a couple babies and I couldn't stand the sight of it or the sound of hearing those woman cry. I had to leave the house."

Naomi mumbles a quiet 'hmmm' and takes the squirrel from me. We go around collecting berries, nuts and greens. Every once in awhile commenting on a certain kind of food and our favorite kind of weather. She likes summer, I like spring. Never once did I bring up Hass. I didn't want to piss her off again. Maybe she wasn't too bad. We got back to camp. Hass has built a small fire and Delly was filling the canteens with spring water. We sat there and enjoyed the meal, Although I couldn't eat the squirrel, my stomach just wouldn't allow me, so I just ate the berries and nuts. I was sitting there peacefully eat the nuts and berries, my hands rest on my stomach when all of a sudden I felt this tiny movement beneath my hand. I gasp as I felt it again only this time a little stronger. The baby. She had just kicked.

To be continued...


	29. Peace and Quiet

So I got myself a beta which is awesome because I am terrible with grammar and spelling. She is amazing for taking the time out of her day to fix my mistakes so I just want to give a special thanks to Bubbleina. Enjoy this chapter and hopefully I get more comments on this one than the last one. This story has about 5 chapters left, maybe six depending on what direction I go, but I will not drag it on too much longer, I don't want you guys to get bored or anything with it. One more thing there will be a third story in the series coming. That one will focus on Katniss's pregnancy and what it is like for her and Peeta to have a newborn baby, there will also be a lot of Gale and Delly fluff in it and I have decided to put oc/oc romance in these stories. Okay I'll stop talking, read and pretty please with cherry on top review. One more thing My beta is fixing my mistakes so when she is done I will replace this chapter with the good one. :)

Chapter 28

Peace and Quiet

(Katniss's POV)

I wanted the baby to kick again, but she remained still for the rest of the day, which really disappointed me. Maybe that wasn't a kick after all, just a hard flutter. I was only a couple weeks into the pregnancy so the chances that was an actually kick were slim to none. I lay on a large pile of leaves I gathered and gazed up at the starry sky. Everything was calm and peaceful, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of crickets and the crackling of the fire in front of me. Delly was curled up in a ball on her own leave pile, snoring slightly and occasionally calling out Gale's name as if she was having some sort of nightmare. I shifted my position in my leaf pile so my body was facing the fireplace. The heat radiating from the large fire Hass had built warmed my body and filled me with a sense of comfort. My eye rest on Naomi and Hass who were sitting across from one another finishing the last of the squirrel I had killed earlier this morning. There was an intense silence in the air between the two of them, one I can even feel and curiosity got the best of me.

These two knew each other way before I even came into the picture. Naomi said that I didn't know Hass like she did and Hass told me she doesn't get along with girls too well. I knew it was none of my business, but my curiosity was getting the better of me and I just had to know what was going on between the two of them. I watched Naomi throw the bones of the squirrel into the fire and stand to stretch her thin arms above her head. She sighed heavily and started to walk towards the dark woods to probably gather firewood. Hass stood with her and shot her a worried look.

"Where you going?" Hass asked.

"To get more firewood, Why do you care" Naomi hissed.

She started her journey towards the dark woods, but was soon stopped in her tracks as Hass's large arm shot out and grabbed her arm gently. He forced her to come to a stop and turned her around so that she was facing him. He looked over to where Delly and I rested on our leaf pile, making sure we were both sound asleep before he started talking. I lay there as still as possible, my eyes squeezed shut. Once I had him fooled he turned his attention back to Naomi and I cracked my eyes back open.

"Can you let go of my before I break your fingers" She threatened, but Hass merely chuckled. He took a step back and let his hands drop to his side. I guess it was obvious he knew better than to push her buttons.

"We both know You were never able to beat me in a fight. Although You probably could now since I'm still kind of recovering from my knife wound."

"Look Hass, I don't want to deal with this right now, This isn't the time or place. We got to focus on getting out of here and back to the capitol." Naomi yanks her hand out of his grip and starts walking towards the woods again.

"Don't think I never cared about you" Hass says as she walks away and this causes her to stop and turn around. Even in the dark you could see the fire in her eyes. She crossed the forest floor in three long strides and stared hard at him. I really thought she was going to smack him in the face and obviously he did too because he squeezed his eyes shut waiting for impact. this woman was scary when she was angry

"I know you didn't care about me"

Hass sighs in annoyance, "You know thats not true, I cared about you a lot"

Naomi snapped, "Then why was it when I told you I love you, you ran away from me. What was it Hass, Why were you even with me during the war. God knows my feelings for you were real. Was it the sex is that why you stayed with me"

"Stop it! You know damn well I cared about you! Thats not the reason...it's complicated" He yells.

"Complicated! I find that hard to believe. As soon as they opened a position up for you in that defense building you dropped me like a bag of weeds. You were such in a hurry to join the people that made your life a living hell. "

"Paylor's not like that."

Naomi sneered, "Oh really, why because she got rid of the hunger games, treated us like human beings. She has a conscious yes, but that doesn't mean she isn't as devious as Snow was. Look what she did to Katniss. The poor woman has been through so much already. Paylor didn't even think twice about using her to lure Wadera out in the open. And there is another thing I'm curious about. Why did she chose you to go to district 12 and escort the mockingjay here?" There was a brief pause between the two of them and Naomi suddenly shakes her finger at him," You know what don't even tell me because I don't want to know. This is all a huge mistake for me, coming back to that defense building. I should of told Rend No and continued to live my life. South Panem is completely beautiful. How can I be that stupid in thinking I would never see you again. I was hoping I'd never see you again"

There was another spilt silence between them and then Hass cleared his throat, "I don't expect you to forgive me for what I did to you, but please know that I cared about you a lot"

"Did you love me though? Like I loved you" Her voice is cracking and I am kind of shocked. This is the first time since I have meet her that I've seen her weak side. I know I really shouldn't be listening to their conversation it is really private and should only be for their ears only, but I can't help myself so I tune back in. Hass is silent so I slightly turn my head. He is just standing there with a hand on his forehead, his eyes shut and his breathing is heavy. The question must of taken him by surprise because he lets out a nervous breath.

"Yes, Naomi, I did love you and I was so stupid for choosing the job over you, but I had..." She stomps her foot on the ground before cutting him off in mid-sentence.

"A job was more important than me I get it. The capitol was more important"

"No you don't get it" Hass growls, "If you got it you wouldn't hate me so much right now."

"I hate you because you broke my heart and threw the pieces into the streets of the capitol."

"I needed to protect this nation after the war ended, needed to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. Paylor needed me. Panem needed my services, so I offered to train as a solider."

"I needed you" She shouts

"You knew we were headed in different paths, You were going to become a material artists and I was going to become Paylor's separate and well trusted assistant."

"Whatever" She walks away from him again and starts towards the woods.

"I still love you. I thought about you every day since we went our separate ways."

She rolled her eyes and snickered without humor, "That was five years ago"

"I know and I mean it I still love you"

"Your not going to walk back into my life after five years of being apart and say shit like that to me" She snaps.

"It's true"

"NO its NOT! Five years ago you went to the capitol to train as a solider and I went to south Panem to train as a martial artist and I told you I wouldn't go. I told you I wanted to be with you, that I'd give my dream up for you, but what do you do you break up with me after having sex with me, after I opened my heart up to you. I don't want nothing to do with you now" With that said she takes off into the woods and I could of sworn I heard sobs coming from the back of her throat. Hass just stands there and looks after her ,watching her vanish from his sight. He sits down on the hard ground and brings his knees up to his chest. I wanted to go to him, comfort him, but I will myself to stay in my leaf pile and not move an inch. This does not even concern me so I will not get in the middle of it. I close my eyes willed my mind to go to a far away place. A place where Peeta, Our baby and I all lived in peace. Away from violence and war, away from everything. I couldn't wait to meet her, to hear her heartbeat, to find out her sex. What if it turned out to be a boy, I'd be really excited. I really wanted a mini Peeta running around district 12.

He would have all of Peeta's features the blond hair, blue eyes, strong muscles, sweet personality. If the baby growing inside me was a boy I would not complain, but something in the pit of my stomach told me it was a girl and I would settle for a girl too, just as long as the baby is happy and healthy. I don't know the exact time I fell into a deep sleep, but one minute I'm thinking about Peeta, about our child and the next I am awoken by the piercing bright sunlight shining in my face. I let out a deep yawn and stretched my tired muscles. I sat up in my leaf pile and peered around the campsite. Delly was still sound asleep, she was curled up in a ball, shivering and whimpering. Hass was leaned up against a tree trunk, his gray eyes closed, arms crossed and feet stretched out. Naomi, however was nowhere to be found. She hadn't come back to the camp after her and Hass's Argument. An Argument that I will not let on that I heard.

I stood up from my man-made bed and brush the leaves out of my hair and off my body. My stomach growled loudly and the baby danced in my stomach, trying to get my attention. She was hungry and I soon realized I was starving, that I hadn't had a real meal in days. I patted her gently trying to get the flutters to stop.

"We'll get you something sweet boy" I whisper softly. I change my mind it i a boy. I wanted a boy. A bouncing baby boy that looked like Peeta, how acted like Peeta and who loved to bake and paint like Peeta. I did not want my child to inherit anything from me because I was not really a good person. At least I didn't think I was, but I'm sure if Peeta were here he would argue with me and tell me I didn't know the effect I can have on people. I honestly don't know why he loves me so much. I mean I'm nothing special.

My thoughts were interrupted as my stomach growled for food again. I placed my hand on my baby and started wandering through the woods to find fresh berries and greens. I took the bow and arrows with me just in case I saw a rabbit or squirrel, any type of game. Although the baby doesn't like the squirrel which really upsets me because now I have to go 9 months without eating it and Squirrel was one of my favorites and one of Peeta's favorites too. I walked through the forest gathering wild black berries and fresh greens. I came to a large pound a couple minutes later and took off the peacekeepers shoes that I had stolen. I hadn't even realized I was still wearing the head peacekeeper's disgusting uniform, which I thought it smelled bad now, It smells ten times worst. I threw off the shoes, slipped off the pants and shirt, leaving me in only my under garments.

I felt incredibly gross and wanted nothing more than to go back to the capitol's defense building an shower for at least three hours, maybe Peeta would join me. The thought of being in Peeta's arms again made a small smile appear on my face. I really missed his touch, his warmth and the way he would protect me from harm. He had to know that we were attacked and never made it to the mountains. I know he was not going to forgive himself for making me get on that train without him, but I did it for the baby.

I threw the peacekeeper uniform aside, followed by my under garments. I prayed to god nobody will walk in on me while I was in the process of showering or at least trying to shower. It was hard to shower in the wilderness. I had no shampoo or soap to wash my body, so I just settled for dunking my body in the cool water and scrubbing my nails through my hair in order to get the small amount of leaves that were stuck in there. I swam around the pound for a couple of minutes before hearing a small chuckle come from behind me. I whipped around and there standing on the bank of the pound was the one and only Naomi. I rolled my eyes and dunked my head under the cool water again.

"You hicks from 12 have no shame, skinny dipping in broad daylight" She joked.

"I needed a bath" I mutter and she laughs.

"Poor excuse for bath water" She crouches down on the bank and dips her hand into the cool water.

"This is as good as its going to get" I tell her.

She rolls her eyes and lets out a small chuckle. She picks up the smelly peacekeeper uniform and examines it closely. A foul look spreading across her face. "Your not seriously going to put this thing back on are you?"

I shrug, "I don't have anything else, besides my ripped clothes that were underneath that"

"There is a supply building about 2 miles from here" She says.

"How do you know"

"I wander" She says in a snippy tone of voice that makes me flinch.

I took a deep breath and tried to debate weather or not I should ask her if she was feeling better since her fight with Hass. I was finding it really hard to believe that those two had a history together. I quickly decided against it, fearing she would dunk my head under water and try to drown me. My eye flicker up towards her and she is staring hard at me. As if she can read my thoughts. She get up from her kneeling position and crosses her arms over her chest.

"If you got a question just spill it"

I bit my lip, "Just...Are you okay" I closed my eyes waiting for her to jump in here after me and dunk my perky little head under water. She stays motionless for a long time. I open my eyes and she is just staring at the ground biting her lip, her brows are furrowed and her arms are still crossed.

"Fine" She says in a mere whisper before she walks away. After she is gone I pull my naked body out of the water and throw on my ripped clothes. I tossed the peacekeepers uniform into the water, not wanting to wear it anymore. I walked back to camp. Delly was awake and her and Hass were beginning to break down camp. Naomi was nowhere to be found. She was one angry girl, whatever Hass did to her, he did a good job in making her bitter towards him and others around her. From what I got out of their conversation he left her after sex in order to get a job as a solider or guard whatever he is. It really is none of my business so I should just stay out of it. I walk over to my two friends and place a hand on my hip.

"Naomi says there is a supply building 2 miles from here." I blurt out.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Naomi came into view from the forest and answered for me. "Here and yes there is a supply building a couple miles from her. I discovered it last night while I was wandering through the woods"

"You really shouldn't wander like that. They are probably searching for us and chances are they will come here looking for us." Hass says.

"I Really don't think you should tell me what to do" She hissed. Hass rolled his eye, grabbed the book bag full of supplies from the ground and without a word stood next to Delly waiting for Naomi to lead us to the mysterious supply building. IT was an hour walk and the tension in the air was so thick that Delly and I became very uncomfortable around these two. It was like one of them was going to snap at the other at any moment. Delly, being the kind-hearted person she is tried to loosen the tension in the air.

"So, Naomi, Uhh What district are you from" Delly asked sweetly.

"I was really born in District 8, but my folks died when I was very young. I thought I had a grandmother in 6, but it turns out that she passed away before my folks so I just stayed in six helping people out, until I was old enough to go on my own."

We came to the building Naomi was talking about, it was kind of small, like the size of a small cabin, maybe they would have a phone or something in there, that way I could get hold of Peeta. I took a step forward, but Hass placed a hand on my shoulder pulling me back away from the building.

"Best make sure its safe first" He said with a small smile.

I nod my head and allowed him and Naomi to go ahead and scout the area. I kind of felt left out as they wandered with their weapons at the ready: ready to defend themselves at all costs. I may have been pregnant, but I was not weak and could be of some use. A loud shrieking noise caused Delly and I to round the building. I had my bow and arrows in a firing position, ready to take off anyone's head that threatened my friends. Although Naomi wasn't much of a friend to me, more of an escort, but she was important to Hass and Hass was important to me, so I guess I would just have to deal with her. I glance over at Delly who was sitting on the ground with her feet drawn up to her chest. I kneeled down next to her and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"How are you doing Delly?"

"I just...want out of here. I just want to go home" Delly mutters.

"I know, don't worry We'll be home before you know it."

Delly was silent for a moment then she looked up at me with her big blue eyes and asked. "Are you scared?"

"Of what?"

"To have a baby"

I place my hand on my stomach and nod my head. "I'm terrified. I never wanted kids when I was younger because of the wars and games, and I'm scared now because of the situation with Wadera."

"You want the baby right?" Delly questions.

I nod, "Yes, I do it's a part of me and apart of Peeta. I'm just scared that I have another little human being to look after. I don't know how to be a mother,Del. God knows I will suck at it. I will be a terrible-"

"Shh.." She places her fingers on my mouth, stopping me in mid-sentence. "This baby is lucky to have a mother like you and a father like Peeta. God wouldn't of given you two this little precious gift if he didn't think you could handle it. It will be hard for you two to raise it yes, but you got to remain strong no matter what for your son or daughter"

"Thank you, Del" I lean over and grab her into a tight hug. I open my mouth to say something to her and that was when I hear the frantic screams coming from the back of Naomi's throat. Delly and I looked at each other and raised our eyebrows up in curiosity, unsure as to why Naomi was screaming bloody murder. We scrambled to our feet. I grabbed hold of my bow and arrows that were resting against the tree trunk and bolted towards the front of the building:ready to take anyone's head off that I see as a threat. I rounded the corner and gazed around my surroundings. My arrow ready to find a new home.

I quickly lowered it once I saw the massive hole in the ground that was along side of the building. Hass was on the ground taking his shoes and socks off, ready to dive in the deep hole that was filled with water. I kneel down next to him, peering into the dark depths. It was too dark to see down the hole. A medium size sinkhole found a home on the ground next to the supply building and Naomi had managed to fall into its dark depths. I couldn't see how far it goes down and I could hear nothing but the sound of small ripples of water crashing against the side of the hole. There was no movement down there, no dark figure that belonged to Naomi. She was completely out of sight, hidden from our view. The forest floor had camouflaged the hole well with its sticks, leaves and mud. Anyone would have stepped on it, mistaken it for the forest floor. Why couldn't it have been one of the stupid peacekeepers that had fallen through? Why did it have to be one of our own.

"What happened?"

"She didn't see it until it was too late. She went to peer into the window to make sure nobody was in there and she sidestepped into this sinkhole" Hass said in a panic. He threw his shoes and socks off, followed by his shirt, revealing his broad chest and muscles. I can see the massive knife wound that had scarred over and guilt flooded my body. "I have to go down there she can't swim. I can't let her drown, Kitty" And with that said Hass shredded his ripped pants leaving him in his boxers only. I watched him dive into the massive hole. I could hear his splashing as his body hit the large amount of water.

"Find something to pulls us back up with!" Hass shouted up at me and then dives into the watery depths.

"Okay!" I replied.

I was in a panic I had no idea what to throw to him and if I even had the strength to pull them back up once he got ahold of her. I backed into Delly, not even realizing she was there. I rummaged through the book bag that we were carrying hoping to find anything long enough to reach the bottom of that hole, but all that was left were canteens, our leftover food and small amount of weapons. I watched as Delly plowed open the door to the supply building and started going through things. I bolted inside and helped her look. There was food, blankets, clothes, weapons, beds, a small kitchen, a phone on the wall. I stopped dead in my tracks as I caught sight of the phone hanging there on the fall. Delly snapped her fingers in my face. I tore through boxes finally finding a long piece of rope. I bolted out of the building and back over to the hole.

"Hass!" I shouted.

No answer. I could still hear the splashing and movements. He hasn't even found her yet, so the chances of her being alive and breathing are slim to none. I held onto the end of the rope and threw the other end in the hole. I hear Hass gasp for air and then there was a massive weight on the other end of the rope and with all my might I tugged on it with the help of Delly. We tugged and tugged until we couldn't tug no more and finally Naomi's limp body was out of the hole. I pulled her up and laid her limp body on the ground, then threw the rope back down to pull up Hass. Naomi was easier to pull up than Hass was. He was heavy. Delly and I were pulling up a thousand pounds of pure muscle. But we managed to do it and I was proud. I don't know how and 90 pound girl and a pregnant woman managed to pull this large man out of the hole, but we did it.

Hass crawled over to Naomi's limp body and placed his ear against her chest. She was not breathing, her chest was not raising and falling. He moved the dark strand of hair out of her face, tilted her head back, plugged her nose and placed his lips on her, blowing air into her chest. I recognized this practice. CPR. Finnick had performed CPR on Peeta while we where in the Quarter Quell. Peeta had hit the fence and his heart stopped. Finnick had brought him back by performing CPR on him for a long while. I only hope Hass would be able to bring Naomi back. Naomi has an attitude yes, but I did not want this for her.

He blew air into her lungs, pumped her chest, but still nothing.

"Come baby, Breath" Hass shouted, his lips back on her blowing as much air into her system as possible. "Don't you do this, Naomi, Don't you dare"

I felt helpless all I could do is sit back and watch Hass try his damn hardest to save his ex-girlfriend and friend. I wanted to do something, anything. All I could do was pray to god and beg for her life to be spared.

"Dammit, Naomi, Breath" He pushed up on her chest again and this time Naomi let out a choking sound and water and mud poured from her mouth. She coughed, gagged and lifted her head off the ground a tiny bit. Her eyes fluttered open and she gazed up at Hass before passing out. Hass scooped her up into his arms and placed a small kiss on the top of her forehead before carrying her inside the supply building. I followed him and shut the door once Delly was in the room. The room was oddly warm and as soon as we all got situated, comfort immediately overtook us. Hass had taken Naomi's wet cloths off and changed her into dry ones that were stored inside one of the boxes. I immediately bolted over to the phone I had spotted early, it was still there, hanging on the wall. This was it: I was going to make a phone call to Peeta and tell him we were in the middle of nowhere. I picked it up from the base and brought it to my ear and sure enough there was no phone line hooked up to it and I was unable to make any calls. I let out a disappointing sigh and slammed it back on the base, startling Hass and Delly.

Now how was I going to get ahold of Peeta. I stride across the room and throw my tired body on one of them lumpy mattresses, rubbing the baby in the process. I stared up at the ceiling thinking of nothing but Peeta. I miss him so much and want to be back in his loving arms. Sometime during my thoughts of Peeta I feel into a deep sleep, being transported to the dream world, back to the white room. The little girl with the blonde hair in pigtails and blue eyes was there, smiling up at me, handing me a rose. I gladly accepted and sat down by my future daughter.

I don't know how long I was asleep for, but I woke up to the sound of thunder rumbling through the night sky. I lifted my head off the mattress and peered groggily around the room. Naomi was up and looking so much better than she had a couple hours ago. She was eating a hot bowl of soup and Hass was sitting next to her eating his. Delly was sleep on the other end of my bed. I laid my head back down and tuned into their conversation. I only hoped Naomi would praise Hass or something for saving her life.

"How are you feeling?" Hass asked.

"I'm fine" Naomi said coldly.

There was an awkward pause and then Hass cleared his throat. "Only you would manage to fall in that large deep hole on the ground." He says with a hint of humor in his voice.

"It was in my way" Naomi mumbled.

Hass laughed, "Was it now"

"Yes it was and it's not funny. Why the hell would those peacekeepers build this place near a deep hole like that." Naomi hissed.

Hass shrugged, "Their idiots and don't think before the act"

"Do you...think they will find us?" Naomi questions.

"I think so and when they do, Kitty will be ready to take off Wadera's head. Then the country will be safe from that madman and We can help Peeta find a cure to his hijacking."

"Hijacking?" Naomi asked in confusion.

"It's a long story I'll let kitty fills you in when she wakes up." He turns his head towards me and I shut my eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep. I really need to stop listening in to their conversation. This was the second time in the past two days that I have done this and if they figure out I am listening, chances are Naomi would kick my ass. She is a strong tough woman and I envy her for that.

"Why do you call her kitty? and why wasn't my nickname as cute as that. You called me Killer when wee first met" There is a hint of amusement in her voice

Hass laughs loudly and gives Naomi a gentle, but affectionate squeeze on the shoulder. "Her nickname just came to me. Katniss: Kitty, sounds the alike if you ask me, besides her best friend calls her Catnip. You on the other hand your nickname I had given you fits your personality, Killer"

She punches him on the shoulder lightly and scowled, having a small smile on her face. I smile that I have never seen before. The room is full of their quiet laughs and I'm grateful the two of them are getting along with each other. Maybe that fall down the hole mellowed her out. Doubt it though. Their laughter died down and now they are just staring at one another. Hass smile fades and he reaches out to move a strand of dark hair from her face. He places his hand against her cheek and leans towards her.

"Naomi" He says her name in a faint whisper.

"Don't" She says pulling away from him, "I'm grateful you saved my life, but please don't do that"

"I'm sorry" He apologized.

Naomi opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted as a bright light flashes through the window and into their faces. The give each other a questionable look and then hops off the flat mattress and towards the window. I finally decided to get up from the bed and join them in their investigation. I peer out the window and my heart drops as I catch sight of a large hovercraft hovering in the air, shinning its massive headlights on the forest floor. They are searching for something or more like a someone. Us.

"Kill that bitch" Naomi says to me, becoming aware o my presence behind her. "Blow the damn thing out of the sky, kill the Wadera asshole"

"No wait, that is a capitol hovercraft" Hass say.

"Peeta" I say quietly under my breath. How in the hell would he be able to find me. I didn't care though it was him and he was searching for me. Someone had given him a hint as to where Wadera had taken me and where his buildings and bases were. I became aware of Delly standing next to me. She looked up at the hovercraft and smiled widely.

"How did they find us?" Delly questions.

"Who know someone must of tipped them off." Hass says.

We all exited the building and tried our very best in getting the hovercraft attention. We flapped our arms around and shouted through the forest, not caring who was around. Before I knew it people were sliding down from ropes. At least 8 people slid from the hovercraft onto the forest floor and one of them had a head full of golden hair. My heart dropped and I ran towards that person with tears of joy running down my cheeks. We collided and I threw my arms around his neck, legs around his waist. I kissed him deeply as he struggled to support my weight with his arms and kiss me back. I can't believe he managed to find us. Peeta Mellark really does manage to surprise me every day. Not even 48 hours since my capture and he manages to find the exact location of the building. Oh god I love this man. I kiss him deeply refusing to let go of him or his lips. I kiss him until air become needed and then I lean my forehead against his.

"I love, love, love, love, love you"

"I'm really sorry I made you get on that train" He whispers and kisses me again.

"I did it for our baby, I want our baby to be safe" I say. He sets me on the ground and drags me into a tight hug. I don't care about anyone else around me, just him. "How did you find me so quickly."

"Long story. I'm done"

"Huh?"

"I'm done this was all a waste of time. I came here looking for a cure and found a fight. We're going home"

"What about Wadera?" I question.

"He is not your problem anymore."

"I need to kill him"

"He will be severely punished for his crimes once Paylor gets ahold of him. We should find him soon. Nearly every single solider in the army is here looking for you and the criminal. They already secured a couple of his buildings."

Just as he said that loud gunshots filled the air and I look up just in enough time to see the people from the capitol hovercraft fire their weapons. It was dark out so I'm not sure what direction their guns were pointed or what direction the peacekeepers were coming I could do was loose myself in Peeta's protective arms. He wrapped his arms around me, guarding me, ready to slit anyone's throat. I cracked my eyes open and peer over Peeta's shoulder. Men in white uniforms were surrounding us, firing at Paylor's soldiers. Peeta started moving us towards the hovercraft. The large ship was still hovering in mid-air, but the peacekeepers were trying everything in their power to take it down. Peeta led me towards the ropes. I cling onto him for dear life. We were just about to grab onto the rope when something large and hard came crashing into Peeta's body. He was torn away from me, pushed hard towards the ground. I gaze up into Wadera's eyes and hatred filled my body as he straddled Peeta and pulled a knife on him. I was sick of this shit, sick of him trying to kill me every damn time I turned around, sick of his attitude and the way he blamed me for his brothers death. I'm tired of this.

I lunged forward wrapping my hands around his neck and squeezing with as much strength I had. I must of taken him by surprise because as soon as my hands met his throat He began thrashing and trying his best to get me off of him. He backed away from Peeta a couple of inches and flipped me over his shoulder. I landed on the ground hard and there was a piercing pain that ripped through my spine. I didn't quit though as soon as he came at me with the knife I thrust my leg forward and kicked him in the abs. He stumbled backwards and I scrambled to my feet. The knife was still in his hand. I had to figure out how I was going to get it off of him and shove it through his heart.

"Your not escaping this time. You hear me!" Wadera shouts. "I will not let you ruin this. I worked so hard to pull this off. Five years of my life and I'm not going to let some bitch ruin it. I"m going to kill you right here and now. No more games. I tried being nice, I said you could live as long as you behaved and did what I say, but no you had to go and kick my damn peacekeeper in the face and then prance around the woods, waiting to be saved. I don't need you or your little bastard child. I can take over Panem myself and finally get my revenge" He lunged forward and punched me right in the face, sending me to the ground. His movements were so sudden I didn't have time to shield my face. I could of blocked his punches if I knew they were coming. He was straddling me trying his hardest to shove the knife in my gut. I held onto his wrist trying with all my strength to push back the tip of the blade.

"Wadera, you forgot one thing" I speak, hoping to distract him. He stop for a spilt second, gazing down at me with nothing but anger in his eyes.

"And what the hell would that be" He asked.

"I fucking killed Cato" I look the top of his wrist between my teeth and bit him as hard as I could. He shouts out, but his grip never loosens. I bite him harder and harder, blood is starting to seeping from the top of his wrist. Finally the knife is out of his hands and on the ground between us. He reaches for it, but I am faster. I scoop it up from the ground and swipe it across his cheek, missing his throat by only a lot. He hits me in the face multiple times before trying to yank the knife from my hand. I'm so caught up in the moment, focusing on the knife and my life that I hadn't even realized Wadera's eyes widen, his movements stopped and he is looking at me with a mixture of hatred and sadness. He rolls over on his side and thats when I see the arrow that is lodged into his back and a couple feet away. Peeta stood there with a bow and Arrow. The same Bow and Arrow that was in the book bag Naomi found in that building. I can't believe he just did that.

I look over at Wadera. He is panting like a dog and tears are in his eyes. The arrow Peeta shot at him was lodged into his spine and it would at lease take a couple of hours before death found him. Blood of seeping from his back and he was gripping the cold hard ground with such force. I could tell he was in a lot of pain, but I don't care. I have so much hatred for this man. This man that tried to kill me and my unborn daughter, this man that kidnapped me, hurt my friends and threatened Panem's peace. I looked into Wadera's brown eyes and saw hatred, pain, suffering and a hint of regret.

"Y-you...W-win, Mocking-jay"

I was silent.

"T-this...i-is what you did...to him...Cato...I-I s-see him. S-see you in..in...hell" With that his eyes closed and the air left his lungs and for the first time since I started this wild adventure I felt safe from everything. I got up from my kneeling position and stalked over to Peeta. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his chest.

"I hit him" He says in a excited tone of voice.

"You hit him and from now on I'm taking you hunting with me"

Peeta leaned down and kissed me.

"Nice aim" I say as our lips parted.

"Watched and learned from the best hunter I know" He says and connects our lips again.

I rest my head against his chest as our lips parted and allowed myself to get lost in his warmth, 48 hours is definitely to long to be away from him. I will never go that long without seeing him again. Peeta led me over to the ropes and we are lifted into the hovercraft. When we enter the ship a strange sense of comfort engulfs my body. We take our seat in the back and I glance around the ship, having no idea where Hass, Naomi or Delly was and as much as I love my friends, I could care less where they were at the moment. I knew they were safe and sound, finally away from harm. Peeta sat down next to me and buckled his seatbelt. I did the same thing. I rest my head against his shoulder. He placed an arm around me and every once in awhile kissed the top of my head. The hovercraft took off and for the first time in 48 hours I felt safe and sound. I figured I would sleep on the way to the capitol, but I merely stole kisses from Peeta and watched the soldiers pace back and fourth, whispering and talking into the communicator that was lodged into their ears.

"I love you" I whisper to him as we are ushered off the hovercraft and into the familiar city of the capitol. Peeta smiled, wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.

"I love you too" He said and kissed my lips.

We are escorted back to the defense building and up to our room. I can't believe this is really happening, that I am back amongst friends and family in only a short period of time. The guards tell Peeta and I to relax and if anything comes up that he would let us know, but in the meantime we are to relax and wait for news. I take a long, needed shower and change into a nightgown that was provided for me since I lost all my things on the train when Wadera blew it up. I come back into the room wearing the blue, silky nightgown. I toss my body on the bed next to Peeta. He opens his warm arms for me and I lose myself in them.

"I will never, ever let you out of my sight again. Do you hear me." Peeta says and takes my face between his hands. He kisses me passionate and crushing me closer to his body. "I almost lost you and my baby and that will never ever happen again. I love you, I'll marry you as soon as we get out of the capitol"

"Peeta, the cure" I say quietly.

"Screw the cure, screw the capitol, screw Wadera, screw it all. I'll figure out something. I can control them I'll meet up with that doctor Bryce every couple weeks."

"Peeta, the whole reason why you came here was for that cure. You need it. We didn't come here to fight Wadera. We didn't come here for war or violence. That was just something we got wrapped up in unintentionally. We're safe now, Wadera is dead."

"I know and we have been focusing on everything but the cure. I do need it, Katniss. I can't endanger you or our baby. I love you always and I have to do this for me, for you and for him or her" He places his hand against my stomach and leans down to kiss me.

"We focus on the cure from now on" I tell him as our lips part.

"Agreed." He connects our lips again and drives me into a deep passionate kiss. I kiss him until I can't breath. We kiss each other for little over an hour before laying down on the bed and falling into a deep peaceful sleep.

(Gale's POV)

I watch her settle on the bed with a smile on her face, her blond hair soaked from the shower she has just taken. I missed her smile, her scent and the way that beautiful blonde hair came down to her back. How can I have been so stupid in allowing her to go on that train. I knew there was a psycho hell-bent on killing Katniss. Neither Peeta nor I never would of guessed that Wadera would go so extreme as to blow up a train in order to kidnap them for a short period of time. I'm really glad that dumb bitch Ceal opened her mouth about everything and I'm really happy Paylor was smart enough to listen to Mellark rant and rave. I'm really glad he pushed and pushed until something was finally done about it.

My eyes snapped back to Delly-who was laying flat on her back on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling, waiting for a peaceful sleep to overtake her. I crossed the room and sit on the bed next to her, leaning down to kiss her on the lips.

"I missed you" She says as our lips part. "My mind was millions of miles away. I can't...stand being away. I think...no, I know I'm in love with you"

I smile and kiss her again. I promise as god as my witness I will never, ever let this woman go ever again. I will be by her side no matter what. She pull into bed with her and laid her head down on my chest. These past 48 hours have been hell for me and for her. I'm afraid if I close my eyes for just a second, I'll wake up and she will be gone. I kiss her again fully on the lips. She runs her hands through my black hair, deepening the kiss. I feel her tug on my shirt, trying desperately to bring me closer. I finally brave it and roll on top of her, being careful not to crush her under my heavy weight. Our lips part and she looks up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes.

"I almost died without ever getting the chance to be with you" She says, "I want to know, Gale. I want to know what it's like to be truly loved and not viciously violated. I want to love you psychically, mentally and emotionally and I want you to love me that way too. I'm not afraid, Gale. I need you just once before I die"

"Your not going to die for a long time, Del" I assure her. My heart is pounding in my chest I can't believe the words that are flying from her mouth. My palms become sweaty and my breathing is picking up.

She giggles, "I know"

We kiss again and this time my hands travel down until they rest at the bottom of her nightgown. I look at her waiting for her permission. She nods her head, giving me permission to lift it up over her head and that is exactly what I do. I gently toss the fabric to the side and drink in her form. There is a scar on her stomach, left by her step-father. I am still proud of myself for beating the hell out of that asshole. Nows not the time to think about him, not when we are so close to loving each other. I kiss her neck and bring her half-naked body close to mine. Her small hands slide under my shirt and lift it over my head. She kisses me and runs her hands over my bare back, touching the barely noticeable whipping scars in the process.

We take our time, slowly and gently removing each others article of clothing. Finally when we are both nude I climb back on top of her, bringing the blanket with me and stare into her eyes. I'm trying to find any sort of hesitation in her eyes, any sign telling me that she wants to stop, but I find none. No second thoughts, no regrets, nothing. So I push into her and she lets out a soft moan. I feel her body shake and her hands tighten on my back. I'm scared she is remembering the day when her step-father hurt her so badly. I am a little upset that there is no barrier to be broken and I know why and it sickens me, but nows not the time to think. Nows the time to act, to feel, to love and that is exactly what I an going to do to her.

I'm really gentle with her, more than gentle. I have never been this gentle with any of the other women I have been with and thats probably because I don't give a shit about any of the other women I have been with. I love her thats why I'm trying to make this as passionate as I can. I'm thrusting into her slowly, watching her facial expressions, trying to determine if she likes something or hates. She doesn't show any signs of being in pain or does she show any signs that she is remember what that bastard did to her. I start to go a little faster and her hands tighten their hold on my back.

"Are you okay?" I ask her in a raspy voice.

She nods her head and leans up to kiss me. Obviously she can't get words to come out of her mouth only soft moans. I begin to increase my pace, but not by much and her moans get a little louder. I muffle them by placing my lips against hers.

We make love for a little over an hour before I'm spent. I give her one last thrust, grunting in the process before rolling off of her and laying flat on the bed. She curls up next to me, brining the blankets to her bare chest. I take her in my arms and run my fingers down her bare arms.

"Are you okay?" I question her for the second time today"

She smiles and nods her head. we remain silent and enjoy our afterglow. It's not long before We both fall into a peaceful sleep.

To be continued...


	30. A girl? A boy? A mother? A lover?

Thank you very much for reading only a couple chapter left and then I will have completed my first big fanfic. I know its taken me awhile to write it and I just want to say thank you too all the people who remained patient with me and that has reviewed. It really means a lot to me. :)

Chapter 29

A girl? A boy? A mother? A lover?

(Gale's POV)

Images of last night flooded through my mind as I woke up the next morning to bright rays of light coming through the bedroom window. Delly is nooked snugly against my side. Her breathing is light and deep. My arms are wrapped around her and her head is against my bare chest. I don't know how it happened last night, but it did and it was completely wonderful. I couldn't get her sounds out of my head. The way she cried my name in pleasure and not in pain. I only hope when she wakes up in my arms she would not regret what we shared last night. I still don't even know how it happened. We were both just so caught up in the moment. So happy that we found our way back to each other. I couldn't believe she came onto me first. Her words kept playing over and over in my mind. 'I need you just once before I died'; What makes her think she is going anywhere. I won't let anyone kidnap her ever again. I will not let a wicket person come within five feet of her or Katniss for that matter. These two women are the most important people in my life. My best friend and girlfriend; and I'll be damn if I ever let someone like Wadera hurt them again. May that bastard burn in hell. He got what he deserved I was glad Mellark shot him with an arrow. Now nobody has to live in fear of that monster.

Delly lets out a sleepy groan next to me. Her eyes flutter open and its not long before her blue merchant eyes are fixed on me. She smiles when she sees me and snuggles deeper into my chest, trying to gather as much warm as possible. I can't believe how beautiful she is looking at this particular moment. Her blonde hair: a wreck from last night, Her porcelain skin shinning in the glittering rays of sunlight. I lean down and kiss her lightly on the lips. She sighs into the kiss, but gladly accepts it and kisses me back.

"Morning" I say quietly as our lips part.

"Hi" She yawns and stretches her bare arms over her head. She sits up in the bed, having the blankets drawn up to her chest. She attempts to get out of bed, but I wrap my arms around her and drag her back to the bed. Her back hits my chest and she giggles.

"Where do you think your going?" I ask tickling her sides, making her thrash against my tight hold.

"I got to pee" She blurts out and takes my hands into hers, lacing them together. "I'll be right back" She giggles and gets up from the bed. To my surprise she lets the sheet drop and I am face to face with her porcelain naked body as she crosses the room into the bathroom. I can't help but look at her gorgeous bare back or her perky round cheeks. I hear the door to the bathroom close and I sigh, completely content with myself at the moment. After a moment of staring up at the ceiling and lying on the bed with my hands behind my head, Delly comes in wrapped in a towel. She blushes when she sees me, but I merely grin at her and wiggle my eye brows back and fourth. She walks over to the dresser that is located in the far corner and begins pulling out her cloths. I get up from the bed, letting the sheet fall from my waist so that I am completely nude in front of her. Her eyes don't go past my waist but she takes in my well muscular body. I grin and cross the room in three long strides. I grab her into my arms and connect out lips, driving her into a deep kiss. She sighs into the kiss and then pulls back a couple seconds later.

"Your blushing, Why?" I ask her, running my hands through her long blonde hair.

"Hmmm, Lets see here, there is a naked man in the middle of the room" She chuckles and kisses me.

"Is that...*kiss* a bad...*kiss* thing?" I ask her in between kisses.

She shakes her head. "Absolutely not."

I grab the clothes that are in her hands and throw them across the room, they scatter and she is about to protest but I lay my lips on hers again stopping her in mid-sentence. We kiss for a couple of seconds and then I decide to brave it and open her towel up, revealing her thin, beautiful body. I throw the towel and it find a home on the floor with her cloths. Her breathing picks up as I place my hands on her bare body. She is nervous about being exposed. I drink in her body and then kiss her on the lips. Her hands go around my neck and I end up lifting her off the ground, her legs goes around my waist and Before I know it I'm carrying her to the bed.

I deposit her on the bed gently and climb on top of her. I enter her for the second time in the past 24 hours and She groans in pleasure, her eyes rolling back into her head as I start rolling my hips in a circular motion. I place my hands on either side of her head, lifting myself up off of her a bit. I didn't want all of my weight pinning her to the mattress. She takes my face between her hands and kisses me.

"OH" She moans out as my thrusts begins to increase. "OH...OH, Gale"

"Are You okay?" I asked panting. I want to make sure she can handle our lovemaking. She has to be able to handle it mentally and physically. Right now her body is reacting fiercely against mine so obviously she can handle it physically.

"OHHHHH" Her moans are getting louder and this only pushes me to go faster. I'm trying to be as gentle as possible with her, but it is extremely hard to do considering the fact that she feels incredibly good. I move my lips to her neck and kiss her tenderly there while she rakes her fingernails down my back; creating long, thin, red nail marks that are right above my whipping scars. Multiple times her fingertips have brushed past the old scars and multiple times I had to stop myself from being self-conscious about my scars.

"HMMMM...OHHHHHH"

Those scars are a constant reminder of what the Head Peacekeeper and the capitol did to me, but what they did to me was nothing compared to what they did to Katniss and Mellark. What those two went through was unbearable. I don't think I would be able to handle what they went through, let alone heal from it. I'm trying to do a bit of healing myself. The kids that burned here because of my bomb still haunt me. I have reoccurring nightmares about it sometimes and I often think about the little girl with the blonde-hair in the two braids. Prim. Katniss's beautiful innocent sister. I destroyed her, took away her life with my creation.

I"m brought out of my thoughts as she yells out my name and drags her sharp nails down my back. The harder I go the deeper her nails dig. I'm panting with each thrust, sweat is dripping from forehead and back. This is truly a wonderful morning and I wouldn't mind waking up like this every day. I keep thrusting and making her scream out in pleasure. I don't care who can hear us over these thin walls that surround us. Let whoever can hear: listen and see that I'm now in love and that I'm no longer using Delly to get over a girl I couldn't have. I don't know how this happened or why it happened. I just became so attached to this girl laying under me and I have no idea why. I guess she is my fate and I am hers; her gentle hands and velvet touch can tame the fire within me.

I give Delly a couple more easy thrusts before collapsing completely on top of her. She lets out a deep gasp as my body crashes against hers and I immediately rolls off of her for fear of crushing her to death. We don't say anything to each other after a couple of seconds. We are to focused on getting our breathing under control. I rest my head against my hand and prop my elbow up on the bed.

"Are you okay with doing this?" I asked seriously.

"Yeah" She says.

"Are you sure?"

She leans in and kisses me before resting her head against my bare chest. Her movements cause my head to hit the pillow and my arm to fall around her. She lets out a deep sigh and pecks my bare shoulder.

"I am more than sure. I've never been so sure about anything in my entire life" and with that said I connect our lips, roll on top of her and we go another round.

The morning was completely wonderful. The best morning in my entire life. We get up from the bed after round two, shower, eat and get ready for another day in the capitol. Now that Wadera is dead and Paylor's men are in the process of driving the peacekeepers out of Panem for good; I'm not so sure what Paylor will have in store for the three of us: Katniss, Peeta and I all signed up to join the squad. I'm not sure if the contract we signed was temporary or permitted.

I'm buttoning up my shirt when I hear a knock on the door. Delly is still in the bathroom brushing her teeth and getting ready for another day. I move through the living room and fling open the door coming face to face with the new commander:Creft and two middle aged men dressed in a fancy uniform. I recognized the other two men as the capitol's police and curiosity was getting the better of me. Why in the hell would capitol police be here and at my doorstep. I looked up at Creft with a questionable expression written on my face.

The officer didn't even wait for Creft to open his mouth. He stepped forward and said. "Mr. Hawthorne, You are being charged with assault charges. Please come with us down to the station so we can get your full statement and investigate the situation."

I immediately know what he is talking about and my knees go weak, anger fills my body and the urge to throw something across the room is strong. I beat the crap out of Delly's piece of garbage of a step-father. And what do you know the bastard turns me in for punching his face in, making me out to be the bad guy. I won't go down without a fight though. He has no case, he pulled a gun on me and Delly. I was acting out of defense. Delly has just made her way into the living room as the words come out of the officers mouth and before I even have time to react. She is face to face with the officer, scowling at him.

"Who do you think you are?" Delly hisses.

"Ma'am, I'm just doing my job. Please step aside and allow us to escort Mr. Hawthorne to the station."

"This is unbelievable" Delly snaps. "What are his charges?"

"Assault charges" The man replies.

"Really, Your arresting him for defending me!?" She shouts.

"Miss, We are just doing our job. We need to bring Mr. Hawthorne down to the station for questioning. Please stand down."

Delly opens her mouth to say something, but I pull her against my chest and stop her words with my lips. I kiss her in front of the men, not caring that the one man let out an awkward sigh. I kiss her for a couple of seconds before turning my attention to the men waiting for me.

"Alright lets go" I say. Might as well go with them without a fight.

"Gale, You can't be serious" Delly frowns.

"I'll be alright" I smile and turn my attention to the men waiting for me. One of them steps towards me with handcuffs in his hands.

"Really your going to cuff me?" I question.

"Your a assault suspect I need to ensure the safety of my men. Now hands behind your back"

"This is bullshit!" Delly snaps. "I"m going to kill Samuel for this"

The cops snap the cuffs on my wrists and starts escorting me out of the building. Along the way many men and women look at me in curiosity. I ignore their gazes and whisper and follow the men out of the building and into the car. Where they shoved me into the back seat and took off down the slick road.

(Katniss's POV)

I watched Peeta pace back and fourth in the waiting room, biting his fingernails until there was almost nothing left. I sat on one of the maroon chairs waiting for them to call my name. It has been a three days since my kidnap and Wadera's death and all I wanted to do was find a cure for Peeta, go home and have this baby in the comfort of my own home, with Peeta and all my friends and family by my side, But that was not possible. Paylor wanted me to give a speech to the people of Panem telling them that the country is safe and that once again Peeta and I are the heroes and that we will always be there for them. I hated the idea and had no intentions of telling the people any of that stuff. What I wanted to tell them was that Peeta and I were retiring to have a baby, that we will be leaving the capitol for good once we find a cure to his venom.I'm not so sure as too how long its going to take to find a cure, but we are going to do our best and this time we are staying together. Peeta has learned that we are stronger together. He has promised me that he will not try and send me away, that he's given up on that because every time we separate; one of us is either kidnapped or depressed. I'm hoping we only have to spend another week or two in the capitol before going home and hopefully in those two weeks Peeta would be able to find something that would help him out.

I miss district 12 so much. I miss mom, Gale's family, Greasy Sae, and even that ugly cat buttercup. I lost track of how many days Peeta and I spent in the capitol. It had to be no more than a couple months:3 at the most. I continue to watch Peeta pace back and fourth and bite his nails. For some reason this really angered me. I rose from the maroon chair and placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping his movements completely. Peeta looks at me with nothing but fear in his eyes. I know he is nervous about my doctors appointment that I had made a couple days after my kidnap and to tell you the truth so was I.

"Your irritating me" I say.

"I"m sorry" He apologizes sweetly. "I'm really nervous thats all"

"I should be the nervous one. I am carrying the baby after all."

I was scared of the little baby that was stirring inside. I would mess up and be a horrible mother. Even if I ended up being a horrible mother: at least the baby would have the best father in history. I know Peeta will be a good father. Peeta stops his pacing and takes a seat next to me in one of those maroon chairs and begins tapping his foot against the hard ground. I was just about to open my mouth to yell at him, but A short, chubby nurse with long curly brown hair, square glasses and a broad smile came waddling towards the two of us with a pen and clipboard in her plump hands.

"Katniss Everdeen" She calls out my name, looking up from the clipboard. I stand from the maroon chair, Peeta is trailing behind me rubbing the back of his neck nervously. We follow the nurse down a long hallway and into a room. It is a plain white room with a computer sitting on a desk, a sink in the corner and a white bed in the middle of the room. The nurse instructs me to sit down which I do. Peeta takes a seat in one of the chairs next to the bed. I reach for his hand. He obeys me and threads our fingers. I sit back on the bed and wait for the nurse to say something, anything.

She types away at her keyboard, glancing up over her round glasses as she types things in the computer. Finally after what seems like ages she spins around in the chair and looks at me with a serious, profession expression on her middle-aged face.

"Katniss, You came in here a few days ago to confirm your pregnancy, correct?"

"Yes" I nod.

"The nurse did nothing but blood work right?"

I nod again.

"Did she tell you how far along you were?"

"Um, I'm not sure... after she told me I was pregnant I ran for it."

"No other tests were done on you?"

"No" I mutter.

She was silent for a moment and then typed something down on her keyboard. After a couple of seconds she looked up again and smiled gently. "I wanna do another blood test on you and an ultra sound. We will do more the farther you get into your pregnancy, but for now we will stick to the basic. Since your not showing yet I'm guessing your in your first trimester. very early into the pregnancy. We'll see if your baby has a heartbeat and if so your are past 18 days." She gets up from her computer chair without another word to us and stalks out of the room, shutting the door behind her. My breathing is becoming heavy and I meet Peeta's gaze.

His hand is still clutching mind and I can see it in his eyes that he is just as scared as I am ;if not more. I know he is afraid of hurting the baby and of hurting me, but it is just something we are going to have to get through. Together. There is no way I'm leaving him again; we've already been through this and I think he finally understands that him leaving me was a very big mistake. That we should have left district 12 together. That was impossible for us to do because the guilt of killing our first child was so great.

Peeta raises my hand to his lips and tenderly kisses it. There is guilt in his beautiful blue eyes and I don't understand why. Why would he feel guilty in getting me pregnant? Before I can open my mouth to question him; He speaks, "I'm sorry"

"Stop it. I love you and I don't regret any of my choices. Do you understand me?"

He nods.

"I'll have your baby and I won't regret it"

Just then the nurse comes back in with the longest needle I have ever seen in my life. I quickly glance over at Peeta; fearing that seeing the needle will send him into an episode. He just closes his eyes and gently looks away as the nurse sets the needle down on the counter.

"I'm going to do your blood work first. Weigh you, get your height and Blood pressure. All that good stuff and then we can see if your baby has a heartbeat beat or not."

Peeta clears his throat and looks up at the nurse. "Can we find out the gender?"

"Depends how far along she is. Now, Katniss, Sit back and relax your going to fill a soft pinch nothing major." She scoops up the needle from the counter and gently walks over to me. I give her my left arm and she ties what looked like a giant rubber band around my arm, causing my vein to pop. She inserts the needle and fills two small vile up with my blood. She pulls the needle gently out of my arm and wraps a bandage around the small, barely visible wound. She motions me to get up from the bed and I obey, following her out into the hallway and down towards another room. Peeta is trailing behind us with his head down and his hands clamped together.

I can tell he doesn't want to be here. With all the needles and doctors equipment making themselves presentable; I'm surprised he hasn't gone into an episode just yet.

The nurse instructs me to step up on a scale. I do and she weighs me at exactly 112 pounds. My height is about 5'6 completely short compared to Peeta. The nurse leads Peeta and I into another room. There is another bed and a large looking computer laying next to it.

"Time for your ultrasound darling. Can you please change into this. I'll be right back." She hands me a plain white hospital gown and tells me there is a changing room in the back. I change into it and hop up on the bed. My knees are beginning to feel weak and sweat is starting to form from my brow. I'm scared...really, Really scared that for the first time I'm going to get to see what my baby looks like. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks: A baby. An innocent, little human being. I'm in charge of him or her. Pregnant.

The nurse comes back in and instructs me to lay down flat on the bed. I obey and thats when she lifts my hospital gown and exposes my belly. She rubs cold gel on me and takes a device that is laying to the side and runs it over my belly. We are silent as she runs the Transducer over my stomach multiple times; all the while looking at the screen. She does this for a long while until a smile spreads across her face and she stills the device.

"Okay, Your baby has a very strong heart-beat. Here she is."

"She?" I say in shock.

"Well, cant tell yet, but you got to call her something besides: it" The nurse smiles. She turns the computer screen and tears of joy fills my eyes as I gaze upon my baby for the first time. It doesn't look like a baby at all. Theres nothing there really. I look up at Peeta to see his reaction and he stares at the screen in 'awe'. He is still holding my hand, so to let him know I'm completely happy with this, with carrying his child, I squeeze his hand a tad bit.

"Doesn't look like a baby. Can't really see anything" Peeta blurts out.

"Thats because she isn't far along. I'd say about 4 weeks."

4 weeks, I thought I was alot further along than that. My eyes are glued to the computer screen, unable to take my eyes off...well really nothing. I can't see her yet and the need to see her is growing. The nurse says something I don't catch. I'm so absorbed in staring at this little creature that is inside of me.

"This is the start of the embryonic period"

"What's that?" I ask.

"From now until your 10th week, your baby's organs will begin to form and grow. Some will even begin to work. I want you to take it easy. Your baby is in a very delicate stage of development. Your body seems to be under a lot of stress right now, correct?"

I nod.

"I understand you went through a lot in the last couple of days. No more stress, take it easy and allow the baby to become more developed. Most woman tend to miscarry during this stage so take it easy."

"I'll make sure she relaxes" Peeta says from the chair.

"Alright. Good, Now thats settled. I want you to come back in about 2 weeks by them you will be six weeks. We'll see how the little one is and make sure there is no birth defects or what not." She gets up from the chair and moves across the room. "It was nice meeting the two of you" She shakes my hand and then Peetas' before hiking out of the room and into the hallway. When she is out of sight Peeta leans over the bed and kisses me gently on the lips. I kiss him back twice as hard and part our lips.

"I love you" He says and helps me off the bed.

"I love you too"

I get changed and the two of us start walking down the hallway, out of the hospital building. Someone must of caught Peeta's eye because he kisses me quickly, lets my hand go and tells me he will be there in a minute. I watch him walk across the lobby and shake hands with a middle-aged man. I recognized him as that doctor Bryce. Peeta and Doctor Bryce become deep into conversation. I don't want to interrupt so I hang back a bit, impatiently waiting for the two of them to get done chatting. I finally get tired and take a seat in one of the maroon chairs and just watch Peeta's facial expressions change from excited to disappointed to unsure to everything in the book.

I sit there for a long while, just staring at Peeta and the doctor that was trying to help him with his venom. I hadn't realized that a woman that had to be in her late forties, that was on the way out of the hospital, stopped dead in her tracks to gaze at me.

I felt uncomfortable when she started taking baby steps towards me and I felt really uncomfortable when she took a seat next to me and folded her hands in her lap. She had brownish-blonde hair and piercing brown eyes that I recognized way to much. My heart thumped loudly in my chest and I had an urge to bolt. The woman didn't say anything for a while. Then she looked at me and cleared her throat, like she was getting ready to say something important.

"Miss. Everdeen?" She asked in a smile voice.

"Yes" My eyes bore into hers and the uncomfortable silence between us starts to grows. I wrap my hands around the baby and stare off into the distance where Peeta and Dr. Bryce were still at it, having a long and tiring conversation. I had an urge to get up and leave without hearing what this woman had to say to me. I'm not sure if I want to know.

"My name is Mrs. Fiona Gravelnear."

I get up in an instant, having every intention in bolting in the direction of Peeta. I knew this peace was to good to be true. Cato and Wadera's mother was here to kill Peeta, The baby and I, I just knew it. She was the next person in line.

"Please don't be afraid." She says calmly. "I will never hurt a fly" She says. I am halfway towards Peeta when I hear her speak her words. I stop dead in my tracks and look over my shoulder at the woman sitting with her hands crossed and tears in her eyes. I bit my lip and look in the direction of Peeta for the thousandth times. He was nodding his head a few times as Doctor Bryce said things to him. I sat back down on the maroon chair and tried my very best to get comfortable around her.

"I'm sorry if I startled you. I just...want to speak with you in private. I've been wanting to speak with you in private for a very long time. Will you please speak with me?"

"I don't want to hear this Anymore. I just want to help my Fiancee and go home. No more violence or hatred."

"I'm not my sons" She replies.

I was silent.

"Please Miss. Everdeen, There is so much you don't understand. So much you need to know about my sons."

"Your not here to try to kill me for killing your sons?"

She shakes her head multiple times and bites back tears that I know want to spill from her eyes. "I just want to talk before having to go back to district 2" The older woman gets up and digs out a pen and a small scrap of paper from her purse. She writes something down and gives it to me before rising from the maroon colored chair and taking off. I am left completely stunned at the fact that I had just met Cato and Wadera's mother. To tell you the honesty truth I don't trust her. She is probably just as devious and hateful as her sons.

Peeta makes his way to my side a couple minutes later with a worried on his face.

"What's wrong?" I ask, taking his hand into mine.

"I'm going to try something, Something that may or may not help me with the episodes."

"You found something?" I question with excitement.

Peeta bites his lip and nods. "Dr. Bryce suggested it to me. It can be done here in the capitol"

"What is it? Tell me please"

"Brain surgery. Although they can never, ever erase the fake memories I have of you. They can however clear the venom that has been inside my head making me violent and sick all these years. They need to do it or I really will die at a young age." My breathing begins to increase as I absorb this information. Was he really going to have brain surgery to get rid of his hijacking. There was so many things that could go wrong if he went through with this and the doctors failed. He could die on the table.

"No, I can't loose you" I say starting to cry. I cast my gaze at the ground, not wanting to look him in the eyes, but he places his hand against my chin and lifts it up so I'm staring into his eyes.

"I love you and I'll be alright. Your not getting rid of me that easy."

"I'm so scared for you, Peeta, I need you and the baby needs you. I can't...I can't raise her alone. You can die on the table" I sob. People are starting to stare at me as they walk by the maroon chairs, but I could care less. I bury my head into Peeta's chest and sob, until there is no tears left.

"Shh...I'll be alright I promise."

We walk out of the hospital building and into the streets of the capitol. Peeta calls for a taxi and I just sit there debating weather I should tell him about my meeting with Cato and Wadera's mother. I place my hand into my pocket and finger the small thin piece of paper the woman had given me. I'm not sure what it says and I don't know if I want to know what it says.

The taxi is here in no time and Peeta is leading me into the back seat. He tells the driver to take us to the defense building and suddenly the car starts speeding down the road. I lay my head against the cool, glass window and peer up at the sun. It's got to be close to noon by now; almost time for lunch. I have been so caught up in worrying about Peeta and worrying about Cato's mother that I didn't realize the baby was screaming at me to be fed.

I was so hungry that I could eat three of Peeta's pumpkin rolls by myself. Food sounded wonderful right now. I wanted Lamb stew, Peeta's sweets, Maybe some greens and delightful cheese buns. My stomach growled so loudly it caused Peeta to look at me and smirk.

"Someone's hungry" He chuckled.

"That's your daughter for you"

"How do you even know its going to be a girl?" Peeta asks.

"I just got this feeling" I reply.

"Okay, but if it comes out a boy I"m going to tease you"

"Go ahead, it isn't a boy."

"Your only four weeks, baby, Can't even see anything, so how do you know?"

"Mothers instinct." I giggle.

"Yeah right" He grins.

I roll my eyes and lean over to kiss him quickly. He returns the kiss with twice the amount of passion and before I know it I'm straddling him in the back seat of the car. Both my legs are on either side on him and I am fingering the buttons of his shirt. His hands rest against my hips. I look into his beautiful blue eyes and kiss him with as much Passion that I can muster up. I begin opening the buttons of his shirt one by one. Once his beautiful chest is exposed I place light kisses there, all the while running my hands across his shoulder blades.

"I want you Mr. Mellark" I mumble between his lips.

"I want you too, Miss. Everdeen"

I groan slightly and he looks up at me in curiosity, "I don't want to be Everdeen anymore." I pout.

"Patience, My love, You'll get what you want. As soon as everything is back to normal" He smiles.

My face drops and I lay my head against his bare chest. "Are you really going to go through with this surgery?"

"Yes, What else is there for me to do?"

I stare into his eyes and crease his jawbone gently with my fingertips. It must of sent a tingling sensation through his body because he shudders at my touch. "I love you, don't you ever forget that."

"Katniss, I promise you I'll be alright. I won't leave you or the baby. I'll be with you. Always." He connects our lips for a split second before wrapping his arms around me and hugging me tightly.

Peeta buttons his shirt and I roll off his lap as the car stops in front of the large familiar building. We pay the cab driver and walk hand and hand into the building. I really wanted to pack my things and leave this defense building behind. There is really no reason to stay here anymore. Since they had no intentions of allowing me train or anything and since the peacekeeper issue seems to be getting under control now that their leader is dead.

Wadera is dead and it was all thanks to my Fiancee. I love him so much and I can't wait for him to get rid of his Hijacking, take me back to district 12 and marry me there, but I'm not sure If I want to get married before or after the baby is born. The last thing I wanted to do was look fat in my dress, but then again Peeta will think I"m beautiful no matter what. I just don't want to look beautiful for our wedding. I want to look drop dead gorgeous for him. I want to look so beautiful that he has trouble talking, I want to look so beautiful that his stomach drops and his mouth hangs open as I walk towards him at the alter.

As soon as Peeta and I walk into the defense building we are greeted by a very distraught and angry looking Delly. Her hair is tied back into a messy ponytail and it looks like she has been crying; there are dark circles under her eyes. She is dressed in a pair a dark jeans and a large t-shirt. She bolts over to us, hyperventilating and shaking. I can see the worry in Peeta's eyes as he lets go of my hand and places both his on Delly's shoulder.

"Del, What's wrong? What's the matter?" Peeta asks.

"The arrested him." Delly says in sadness, "They came by this morning and arrested him. Took him to the station for questioning."

"Gale? They arrested Gale?" I asked.

She nods, "Yes"

"What for?" I asks in curiosity.

"Assault charges." She replies.

"Surely he is innocent."

Delly remains silent and wraps her arms around her body. She takes a deep breath and kneel on the ground. She begins hyperventilating again a couple seconds later and then thats when the tears come. She drops the the ground all together and cries. Peeta kneels beside her and helps her to her feet.

"He beat the hell out of Sam."

I see Peeta's eyes go from calm to angry in only a split second. "That bastard is here?"

"Yeah, We ran into him the day we got on that train to go home. Gale lashed out at Sam because of the things that were coming out of Sam's mouth. He beat the shit out of him and now he is facing assault charges. They arrested him. It's not fair" She cries.

"We'll help him out" Peeta assures her.

"Oh god, Its my fault. What am I going to do"

"Shh...We got this" I say pulling Delly into a comforting hug. "Gale wont go to jail for this, but you got to tell me what happened."

"Samuel was following us, Gale Snapped and started hitting him. Yelling and screaming at Sam for what he has done to me." She wipes the stray tears from her eyes and runs a hand through her tangled ponytail. There is something off about Delly this morning. The way she is dressed is odd. The large shirt, too big for her size, her messy hair that is sticking out of its ponytail. My eyes examine every inch of her and then I see the two tiny red marks on her neck and now it is certain that they had sex and recently too. Gale and Delly had sex. It takes time for my brain to process this, but as it does a small smile appears on the corner of my lips and I have to hide it from their view.

"What are we going to do? We can't just leave him in there. I was a witness. I can help his case. Will one of you go to the station with me."

"I will" Peeta volunteers immediately. He shoots me a 'sorry' look and I shoot him a reassuring smile. I know the two of us are supposed to be focusing on becoming parents and the cure so we can go home and get married, but Gale needs our help; Family and friends come before anything else: Besides I need to take it easy anyway. The doctor said the baby's organs are developing and it is important that nothing interferes with that process. I want my baby to remain comfortable and safe.

"I want you to relax and not worry" Peeta tells me.

"Okay."

He places his hands on both my cheeks and stares hard at me. "I mean it no worrying, no stress, nothing but relaxation." I know he has every right to tell me this. I'm in a very delicate stage in my pregnancy and anything could easily make me miscarry. I don't need any more stress put on my body and mind. I'm surprised I didn't miscarry during my short stay with Wadera and his men. This baby was strong like its father.

"I'll be fine." I promise him. He kisses me on the lips and places his hand against my abdomen. I smile into the kiss as he touches our baby tenderly. We he parts our lips I smile, "I love you"

"I love you too." He says back and with that him and Delly take off out of the building. I watch him go until I can no longer see him or Delly. I sort of feel empty as the boy with the bread vanishes from my sight. I know he has to help Gale get out of the trouble he finds himself in. Hell, I would help to if it wasn't for my tiny condition. I trust Peeta and Delly to handle this situation. In the meantime I will do what Peeta says and take it easy.

I started walking towards the elevator door, not sure what my destination was going to be. I stopped dead in my tracks and dipped my hand into my pants pocket, fishing out the thin piece of paper that the middle-aged woman had given me earlier today. I examine the piece of paper closely. It has an Hotel address and number written on it and I suddenly find myself having a mental battle with myself. Should I trust the woman that claimed to be Wadera's mother? Any normal mother would go after the person that killed their child. I know I would go after anyone that would try to hurt my daughter.

I stare at the paper long and hard for a couple of minutes before taking off out of the defense building and towards the street, trying my hardest to flag down a taxi. One finally stops after a couple of minutes if waving my hands around like a madman. He lets me in and I tell him the address the woman has written down. He nods his head and tells me he knows the exact location of the hotel she is staying in and its not long before he is zooming down the street. It make me nervous that he is going silently over the speed limit.

It takes him 10 minutes to get to my destination. I pay him and he asks me if I want him to wait which I say no. He zooms off leaving me standing in front of this massive hotel building. I'm captious at first then take a couple steps towards the entrance. The lobby is really fancy, this has to be the fanciest hotel building in the whole capitol. There is a crystal ball glistering above my head and the rugs are a fancy brown color withe weird patterns all along the sides. There are gold colored carts for putting guests suitcases in and wheeling them up to the rooms. There are all kind of paintings hanging from the wall as decorations followed by different types of exotic plants.

I walk up to the front desk feeling awkward that I am only dressed in a pair on jeans and a t-shirt when all these other people are dressed in fancy dresses and suits. The woman at the front desk s dressed in a long green dress full of glitter and sparkles. She has green eye shadow covering every inch of her eyelids and she has long,black eyelashes that come down to her cheekbone as she blinks.

"Renting a room, Miss. Mockingjay?" I hate how everyone in the whole city knows my name.

"Uh...No, I'm here to see someone."

"Oh, of course. Name?"

"Miss. Fiona Gravelnear."

She scans through the names on her computer and smiles widely. Her green lips pull back to reveal her perfectly white shiny teeth. "She is in room 24EE. way up top. Long walk up the stairs. might want to take the elevator."

I thank her and make my way to the gold plated elevator pad. The elevator is see-through, nothing but one large tall glass case. It would shatter if someone threw something through it. I titled my head up and gazed up the shaft. It seemed to go on for miles. The sliding glass doors opened and I stepped inside the clear elevator. I hit the level 24 button and it took me all the way up.

I wandered on the 24th floor for what seemed like ages trying to find Room EE, finally after fifteen minutes of searching I found it at the very end of the hall and my heart started beating. Maybe this was a bad idea. I knew nothing about this woman. How do I know she is not as crooked and as evil as her sons were? How do I know she was not planning my demise as we speak? Something in the pit of my stomach told me to lift my hand and knock and that is exactly what I did.

I knocked three times before the door opened revealing the face of the woman I had meant earlier. She shot me a small smile and stepped sideways to allow me in. I entered and gazed around the fancy room. The smell of food fills my nostrils and the baby screams in protest.

"I'm glad you decided to come. Miss. Everdeen" she mutters shyly.

"Look, I'm not staying to long, If you want to say anything to me I'm ready just say it. It's okay for you to hate me for what I did. I'd hate the person that killed my daughter"

"I don't hate you, Katniss, My son, He needed stopped. I just want you to know things. Things that you should know about Cato and Wadera."

To be continued...


	31. Comfort me

:( Not many reviews. Oh well if you got nothing to say thats fine. Uh...This story is almost over and onto the third installment. I promise I won't drag this on much longer. Don't want anyone to get bored. Would you guys be interested in reading a third installment about Katniss's pregnancy? I know you guys will be and I have ideas for it. No violence in it Whats so ever. Promise. Maybe arguments but thats about it. I'm going to make the 3rd installment have shorter chapters than this one. I find shorter chapters much easier to deal with than long winded ones like these. And again I know it took me so long to get this done and I'm sorry. At least it will get done though. :). Well here is the next chapter: A couple more after this and don't worry Peeta will be cured of his hijacking shortly. Ps this chapter is kind of smutty so if you don't like that kind of stuff don't read. Resevamp wanted it.

Chapter 30

Comfort me

I was really nervous in sitting on this couch, in a complete strangers hotel room. The urge to run grew more and more. I kept telling myself to run, but my body refused to move an inch. Something in my mind was keeping me here. I wanted to know about the man that tried to end my life, but at the same time I wanted to forget everything about him. I wanted to forget that smile and his brown beady eyes. His cold clammy hands on my skin and his deep, threatening voice. Wadera Gravelnear was dead and gone. Only an image in my mind. A memory.

I watched Cato's mother make us coffee and pull out fresh buns from the fridge. I am amazed that almost every single hotel room in the whole city was this fancy. All the rooms reminded me of an apartment. A large, Fancy apartment. Fiona carried the tray over to me and set it gently on the large, glassy coffee table in front of me. The fresh scent of coffee pierced my nostrils and I suddenly had the urge to throw up. Obvious the baby didn't like it and my hand goes to my mouth.

"I'm sorry" She apologized sweetly.

"No big deal. Just...Certain things make me feel sick"

"I was like that too when I was pregnant." She muttered.

I said nothing and sit there with my hands in my lap. My eyes were focused on the buns sitting in front of me and my thoughts immediately fly to Peeta. I miss him already and it's only been a couple of minutes since we parted ways. 30 minutes at the most. I hope him and Delly were able to find a way to help Gale out of this mess he finds himself in. Damn, Gale, I hated his temper. He's always had that fire in him. I only hope Delly would be able to control that fire. What Gale did was good, but bad. Sticking up for his girlfriend was pretty sweet and romantic, but beating the shit out of the man that hurt her was something incredibly horrible. We live in a new world now. One where Violence and hatred are not tolerated. Our world needs a little peace in it and it didn't matter who you where or where you came from. You disturb the peace, then punishment comes your way. And Punishment was certainly coming Gale's way because he couldn't control his temper.

"Miss. Everdeen? Are you okay?" Fiona's voice brought me out of my deep thoughts. I glanced over at her and smiled warmly, nodding my head at her question.

"Why did you invite me here?" I ask her quietly.

"I wanted to tell you some things."

"Such as?"

"I don't hate you for what you did to my sons. My family has been torn apart since day one and its all thanks to Snow. I blame that bastard for everything that My family and I went through. Cato and Wadera were never like that before. They were brave, happy, kind, loving children. Cato was a determined young man from the start and yes sometimes hotheaded like his father, but still a good kid and a wonderful dad."

"Dad?" I choked out. Really? Cato was a father at age 16. The thought hits me hard and I suddenly feel a lump in the back of my throat. Oh my god, Some baby is going to grow up without a father and it was all my fault. I bit my lip and stared up at Fiona; waiting for her to continue.

"I didn't bring you here to tell you about my life story. I brought you here so you will understand what made my sons so hateful and maybe after hearing it you won't hate them so bad."

Oh I will still hate them. Wadera more than Cato. Cato did what he had to do in order to survive. I really can't bring myself to hate him like I hate Wadera. Wadera killed innocent people without being forced to. He hated the new world and all of the peace in it. There is a difference between being forced and being willing. I will listen to whatever this mother has to say to me, but I will never forgive Wadera for all the hell he has put me and my friends through. He stabbed Hass, Shot Peeta, Threatened my baby, killed those innocent people on the tape, formed a peacekeeper group and threatened Panem's future. So, yeah, I will always hate him with a deep passion.

"Why do you care so much? Why does it matter if I hate them or not? You should hate me. I'm the one that killed them. I'm the one that killed your children, but yet you invite me into your hotel room for coffee and bread and beg me not to hate them for causing me pain. What kind of mother takes the side of a murderer?" I place my hand against the baby and stare up at her. "I'm pregnant...my baby will be born and I'll be damned if someone will hurt her. I would of killed the person responsible for my baby's death. I wouldn't hesitate I would just let my arrow fly if someone took my child away from me on purpose. So why don't you do it?" My cheeks have turned red, my breathing is heavy and small tears roll down my face as I stare hard at this woman in front of me, begging her for an answer as to why she won't kill me for taking her sons away.

"It's not in my nature to kill people. It not in my nature to be vengeful. Forget and Forgive. I have forgiven you, I have forgiven my sons, I have forgiven Panem for all the violence and torture it has bestowed upon the world. Now I need you to forgive. The cycle of peace will not be complete unless all those who have suffered forgive themselves and others. I need you to forgive my sons and yourself."

"You don't know me lady. Everything I have done is unforgivable. So many people have died because of me. I can't forgive myself and I can't forgive your son. I'm just way to damaged to do anything but sulk. Every time I think about the games or the war I feel bad that those people will never know the precious gift of life and peace. Your son will never know his child and it was thanks to me. I took away a father and a lover."

"You don't get it, Miss. Everdeen. None of this is your fault. It's Snows; all of it is Snows fault. Just listen to me, listen to what I have to say and decide for yourself. You did what you had to do and Cato did what he had to do."

"This isn't about Cato. I forgive him, He was trying to stay alive and I...Just...couldn't let him suffer. I listened to him for hours, groaning and moaning and all the while I was thinking how can someone deserve this much pain. He was in so much pain. Why did he do it? Why did he volunteer for something like this? I always thought it was because he enjoyed the killing. He mocked tributes as they fell and he killed them without mercy. Your Cato haunts my dreams. The groans of pain and merciless killing is unbearable."

"He did it for a young boy. Like you did it for your sister. Cato did it for his best friend. He had to do what he had to do in order to survive that game. He had to be cold and emotionless. That was his strategy. He wasn't a heartless being; it just seemed like he was. The games it changes people in the worst way possible."

I was silent for a moment. The baby was fluttering in my stomach. I don't want to talk about this; it is opening old wounds. I haven't thought of Cato in about 5 years ever since the war and games ended. I've only thought about him recently because his brother tried to slaughter me and my friends. I was dying to run out of this hotel room screaming. I didn't want to talk about the past, but for some reason my legs refused to move. I just sat there, watching this woman bit her lip and try to find the right words to say to me.

An eerie silence settled between us for a couple of minutes. Neither one of us said anything or did anything. Mrs. Gravelnear picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip. Then she awkwardly set it back down on the coffee table. She crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap. I wanted the eerie feeling to pass. Wanted the intense silence to vanish. I wanted this entire conversation to be over with. Nothing this woman says or tells me is going to make me forgive her son.

Wadera put me through hell in the short time I was here and I will never forgive him for that. He was a sick bastard and got what he deserved. I stared at the woman in front of me and sighed deeply. She met my gaze and took a deep breath before opening her mouth to speak.

"Wadera was not always like that. He was a good boy, A very good boy. He helped people who needed it the most. He protected his siblings. He was my first born, then Cato, then Megumi. Wadera was so close to his brother and sister... so close. You couldn't tear them apart. Wadera was four years older than Cato. He would do anything for his younger brother and sister."

"Why are you telling me this!" I snapped a little too harshly.

She flinched at my sudden outburst, but took another deep breath and continued, completely ignoring my question. "He was an amazing brother and wonderful friend. He begged Cato not to volunteer, but Cato just wouldn't listen. Wadera was a horrible wreck when Cato entered the hunger games in his best friends place. My son did everything in his power to help his brother win. My husband was a peacekeeper, so it was okay for us to arrive in the capitol when the games were going on. So we did just that, Wadera, My young daughter Megumi and myself all stayed in a fancy capitol hotel. A few days in the unthinkable happened. President Snow summoned us to his mansion. I didn't know why he did it; it just happened. He treated us wonderfully, gave us lots of food. He took a immediate liking to my eldest son." She stopped took a deep breath and then continued. "I watched my youngest son fight for his life. We watched with fear in our hearts. I began to notice Wadera spending more and more time with the president. They grew close and I didn't know why Snow would take interest in a young man in his 20s. The games dragged on and I started seeing less and less of my son. One day I passed his study and heard the two of them talking. He told Wadera that he was going to do everything in his power to ensure Cato's victor. I couldn't have been more happier. We had the president on our side."

I sigh and gazed down at the coffee in front of me.

"I still to this day don't understand why Snow called me and my family to his mansion to watch the games, he had to be up to something. We watched and watched until finally it came close to the end. The whole time President Snow would zoom in on you. He would bite his lip and his brows would dip. I don't know why, but he had it out for you since day one. Anyone with a brain can tell you that."

"You spent a lot of time with him during the games then?"

She nods "Yes"

"He hated you from the very moment he laid eyes on you."

"I just...It doesn't make sense. Why would he invite a tributes family to his house?"

She shrugs. "I can't answer that, but I can say he was really pissed when you won and he was extremely pissed when You and the other victor pulled out them berries. Wadera was devastated when Cato died. Yelled, screamed, cursed, cried. He even told me he was going to got to district 12 and shoot you. Thats when he started turning violent. When everything was said and done: We went back to 2 to continue with our lives. Wadera would break things around the house. The littlest things would set him off and he would pitch a fit. He even hit his 10 year old sister one day because she got in his way. Cato's death changed him and it wasn't long before he moved out of my house."

I bite my lip, fighting back tears. I know all of this is my fault she doesn't have to tell me something I already know. Was she trying to make me feel guilty about Wadera changing from a sweet guy to a monster. I know its my fault I don't have to be told.

"I know everything is my fault. I know caused you and your family pain and I'm sorry for everything."

"No, its not your fault. It's my sons fault and that bastard Snow."

"Why talk to me? I'm just the girl who killed him. Why come to me? You should hate me. You should want me dead."

She shakes her head multiple times and places a kind hand on my shoulder. "No, I told you I'm not like my son"

"What's the purpose of this conversation?"

"I want you to know Wadera was corrupted, led down a wrong path. Snow took advantage of Wadera's hatred towards you. Together they formed an alliance. Snow told Wadera that they were going to go to war with the districts; He just had this feeling. He sent my son away until he needed Wadera."

"How do you know all this?"

"I snooped and asked around and people were more than happy to tell me things and my son was not very discreet as to what he did. I had a feeling They were planning something big. I just didn't know it would take my son years to pull it off"

I sigh deeply, not sure what to make of all of this. Snow took advantage of Wadera's hatred towards me. All of this didn't make sense to me and Really I didn't want to sit here and listen to it any longer. Snow knew those berries were a spark of the rebellion. He knew we would eventually go to war with the capitol. He knew things were going to turn for the worst. Did he know the capitol would fall? Maybe yes, maybe no. Even in death Snow still managed to kill people, make people suffer and manipulated them. He needed a back-up plan just in case they lost the war and what do you know: Wadera was it.

"Have you ever heard of hijacking?" I ask after a moment of silence.

"Yes it was common for a man or a woman to become hijacked. I guess Snow loved to do that."

"Is there any known cure for it?"

Fiona shrugs. "The only thing I could think of his that hi-tech capitol surgery."

Peeta has mentioned about having that type of surgery in order to get rid of the venom. I guess the venom was making his crazy and violent. There has to be another way. I don't want him to have to have this surgery. I want him to continue to look for a safe and reasonable cure.

"Do you know anyone that had that type of surgery done?"

She nods. "I know a few guys that went under, but have died on the table. They usually always die on the table. There are many victims in hijacking and most of them just live with it until the venom kills them"

"Peeta is hijacked" I mutter softly.

She shoots me a look of despair. "He will die young, they always do. The venom coursing through his veins will kill him unless you find something. We've seen it happen to so many good men. I'm not trying to scare you or upset you. I just thought you should know everything about Snow and what he did. I need to give you every piece of information I had on him."

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and it wasn't from the baby either. I hated the thought of finding him dead in our bed one day. I'd come home from hunting and he'd be laying there face down on the bed, the light in his blue eyes would have left. I don't want to think about this. Oh my god I can't think about this. I wanted to know more and more about this but my body and mind just couldn't take any more stress. I needed to relax like the doctor had told me to do. My baby was in a very delicate state right now; I could easily miscarry and not even know about it. I quickly stood from the couch and wrapped my arms around my baby. Wadera's mother stood up with me and shoots me a worried look.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I just need to go"

"Very well" She says sadly.

She walks me to the door and gently opens it for me. "Please, keep in mind about what I said. Every word of it's the truth. Please forgive him"

I bit my lip, "I can't I"m sorry" And with that said I took off down the hallway and vanished from her sight. I needed to get out of here, needed to clear my head from all this information that has been cramped into it. No, What I really needed right now was the father of my baby. I needed Peeta's large, strong arms wrapped around me, needed his lips to dominate mine. I need him so much right now. I bolt down the hallway towards the glass elevator. I need him...I need him right now. My breathing was heavy and sweat dripped from my brow from the little sprint I took down the hallway. Obviously the baby didn't like my little work-out because a urge to throw up passes me.

I took a deep breath and rubbed my belly, trying to soothe the baby. Calm her down, but then my mind returns to the doctor telling me that my baby's organs are developing that I need to take it easy. Thank goodness there was a employee restroom by the elevator. I pulled open the door and bolted inside. I heaved into the pearly white toilet. I threw up for a couple of minutes before rising to my feet and gently soothing the baby.

"Mommy's sorry. Just got to excited. I know your trying to relax and develop. Mommy's sorry" I rubbed her and sat down on the toilet seat. My head was still pounding and I felt really dizzy. I sat there for a couple minutes waiting for my sickness to pass. Once it did I got up from the toilet seat, washed my hands in the fancy sink and made my exit. A young man with dark chestnut brown hair came down the hallway pushing a cart full of towels. He caught sight of me coming out of the employee bathroom and a frown appeared across his face. He stopped pushing the cart, leaving it there in the middle of the hallway.

He strolled over to me with his hands in his pockets and a cocky, scolding look on his face. I began walking towards the elevator hoping I would avoid him. No such luck. He stood in the way and gave me a hateful glare.

"Excuse me, Miss, Can you not read?" He questions with attitude. He points to the sign on the bathroom door. "Employee facility only No guests."

"Excuse me for having to throw-up, next time I'll just do it in the elevator that way people like you have to clean it up. I can't believe you are really getting smart with me about a bathroom. I'm in no mood buddy. Now get out of my way"

It doesn't take me long to get out of the fancy capitol building and into a cab. The drive was about 10 minutes back. As soon as he stopped in front of the defense building. I shoved money into his hands and took off. I only hope Peeta and Delly were back from the station. I still can't believe Gale got arrested for assault. I'll find out what's going on once my nerves calm down. I plow through the front doors of the building, completely ignoring Hass as he greets me. I don't care about anyone at the moment. I just need him to kiss me, wrap me in his strong arms and comfort me. I need to calm down. The conversation with that woman has my nerves rattled. I can't wrap my head around all the information that she spilled to me.

I open the door to our apartment complex and started to call out his name. "Peeta?"

Silence.

"Peeta!?" I call a bit louder.

When I call his name a second time it is then I hear the door to the bedroom open. Peeta comes around the corner in nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants. His hair is damp and wet, probably from the shower. There is a towel around his neck and his beautiful chest is damp and glistering. His gorgeous smile fades as he catches sight of my worried expression.

"Hey, Where you been? I just got back from the station, Gale's situation is..." He begins, but I say nothing and in three long steps I stride across the room, grab the back of his head and crush my lips against his, interrupting his entire sentence. His lips taste minty and that could only mean that he has brushed his teeth recently. The kiss doesn't last long; Peeta's large hands goes to my shoulders and pushes me back a bit. He is looking deep into my eyes with nothing but confusion and worry.

"Are you okay?"

"Now I am" I reply and connect our lips again. He kisses me quickly and pulls back.

"What's going on, Katniss"

"I need you so much right now, Peeta, I need you to kiss me and hold me."

"Kat, is everything okay"

"I don't know, my mind is flying with so many thoughts I cant figure them all out. Just...please kiss me. Put your hands on me."

He raises his brow a bit and give me a semi-cocky smirk. "Don't you want to know about Gale's situation?"

I sigh somewhat angry. Talking is the last thing I want to do with him right now. What that lady said disturbed me so badly. 'He will die young, they always do. The venom coursing through his veins will kill him unless you find something. We've seen it happen to so many good men.'. I stare into those beautiful ocean blue eyes that I had fallen in love with. I won't let him die, I love him way to much to allow him to pass before his time.

I closed the distance between us, pressing my body up against his. His arms finally go around my waist. He kisses me passionately and I let out a sob between our lips. He breaks the kiss, a loud puckering sound comes from our lips.

"I love you" I cry and kiss him again. "I love you so much"

"What is the matter? Please, you got to talk to me"

"I can't lose you"

"Katniss, Your not going to lose me. Now, What happened. Tell where did you go? Why didn't you stay here"

I bit my lips and allow the tears to fall. He grabs me and allows me to sob in his chest, soaking his bare skin. "I talked...To...Wadera's mother"

He pulls back from pressing tiny kisses against my neck. His facial expression is serious and his eye beam with hatred as Wadera's name slip out of my mouth.

"What!? Did she hurt you? Are you okay? Did she threatened you?"

I shake my head against his chest and place a chaste kiss on his skin, just above the scar on his collarbone. "No, She didn't hurt me or threatened me. She offered me coffee and food, she talked a lot about her son and Snow. Then we talked about Snow's victims. I asked her if she knew anything about the Venom and the only thing she told me was Snow used it a lot on disrespectful people and that they usually died a couple months after they injected them with it. Oh...God...You can't die on me" The tears were back and he held me tighter. 'He will die young' I cant get that out of my head.

"Shh? I'm right here, Katniss, I'm here." He pushes me back a bit and takes my left hand into his. He leads my hand up to his cheek until my palm his flat against it. "Feel this: My skin is warm." He moves down his chest and over his heart. "My heart beats for you and it will always beat. I'm here for you and our baby" He drops my hand and it falls to my side. He places his hand against my stomach, while his free hand wipes the tears from my eyes. "I love you" He says.

"I love you so much." I lean on my tiptoes and kiss him with as much passion and love that I could come up with. He grabs my jaw lightly with his hand and deepens the kiss even more. I run my hands down his muscular body. I finger the material of his pants and without warning to him, pull them down his waist. The sweat-pants pool at his feet and he obediently steps out of them and looks at me in shock. Usually I'm not the one to make the first move during our intimate moments together. He's usually the first one to lift my shirt or to unbutton my pants, but right now I could care less who starts it first. I just want him to lay on top of me, kiss me, hold me and take me.

"Please make love to me." I says as we part our lips to breath.

He bites his lip and raises his brow, "But...what about the baby?"

"Huh? The baby will be fine." I tell him and connect our lips. We kiss for three seconds and then he pulls away.

"I...just...He is trying to form and...I just...it's..." He blushes, unable to finish his sentence.

"Peeta, the baby is the size of my thumb. We'll be fine."

"Katniss, It's like I'm boinking my kid in the head" Peeta blurts out. His face his red and he sets his jaw, his lips pressed in a tight line. He is looking at me in a complete and serious way. I sudden start to throw a laughing fit at his choice of words 'boinking' I have never heard him refer to sex as boinking and it is incredibly adorable how he says it. I laugh so hard that tears start to form in my eyes. I quickly wipe them away and look up at Peeta.

He is standing there; red-face and embarrassed by his choice of words. I continue laughing at him and his cuteness, completely forgetting about my sadness and my conversation with that woman. He finally decides to step forward and place his lips on mine, muffling my fits of giggles. I wrap my arms around his neck and chuckle between his lips. He suddenly lifts me off the ground, his hands gently on my rear-end. I wrap my legs around his naked waist; like I had down so many times before and allow myself to be carried to the bedroom.

He kicks the door closed with his foot and carries me over to the bed. He sets me down on the sheet and places his hands on his bare hips. I can't help but gaze at every part of him. I start with his chest, his abs, his arms, his bare waist and his male parts. He is so beautiful. I wiggle my finger back and fourth, motioning for him to come here. He remains still.

"I believed you said something about 'boinking'" He chuckles.

"I thought you didn't want to have sex because of the baby"

"If your really sure it wont hurt" He says.

"I know it wont hurt her, just be gentle with me"

"You know I'll be gentle." He grins.

I am beginning to get impatient. "Alright then, come on get busy"

He places his index finger up in the air and wagged it back in fourth. "I think I'll let you suffer for a moment before I touch you"

I wanted him so badly ever since I walked through that door. He just stands there at the foot of the bed, wearing absolutely nothing. I want his strong body up against mine. I want him to push into me and slowly take me. I just want and need him so much right now. I want my fears of losing him to go away. I want that conversation with that woman to leave my mind for the time being. He managed to cheer me up by his goofy choice of words, but he has not managed to make me feel better about his hijacking. We needed to know what we were truly up against, If everything that woman said was true. If it was true then why hasn't that venom killed him by now?

She said that Snow would injected the men and then a couple months later they would die and that nobody had a cure to it. Why didn't Peeta die from it. He should have died the day he returned to district 12, but he didn't. Maybe it had to do with the amount they gave you at a time. I don't know much about Peeta's torture; he has never talked to me about it and I don't think he ever will. I have no way of knowing how much tracker venom was given to him and I was afraid to ask him.

Now wasn't the time to ask him about his torture. Now was the time to seduce my future husband. I smiled at that thought and looked down at the ring sitting gently on my left ring finger. It has been there all along. I almost forgot about it and I'm very shocked that it remained on my finger for as long as it did. Wadera never removed it when he had me kidnapped for those two days. I was never going to take it off and nobody was going to make me.

My eyes wandered to Peeta, who moved across the room to the hologram pad, his back was towards me and he was fiddle with the metal pad that would change the scenery in the room. He browsed through multiple holograms. There was so many pictures ;all from Oceans, sunsets, flowers, the busy streets of the capitol. I didn't want that because it was creepy. There were people walking around in that one. I didn't want to make love with that hologram in our window; it would make me feel like someone was watching us. While he fiddled with the hologram I took the time in slipping my shirt above my head and throwing it to the ground. I unhooked my bra, unbuttoned my pants and slid my panties down my legs. I threw all my cloths on the ground and laid on the bed completely exposed. I left nothing on but my engagement ring.

I watched Peeta continue to browse, getting more and more anxious by the minute. I wanted him warm, his strong body covering mine in a protective way. I wanted to touch the muscles in his back as he moves on top of me.

"I'm getting very, very, very impatient over here, Mr. Mellark."

He turns around and smiles at me. He takes in my naked form and his smiles grows wider. He's not even shocked that I have undressed myself when his back was turn.

"Relax. I'm going to try and be very, very, very romantic."

I snicker. "You don't need to be romantic, You need to get that fine baker butt over here and make love to me."

"Please Katniss, Don't argue with me. You were really upset when you walked in the door. I want you to feel better and I want to be romantic when I do make you feel better. I don't really get to take my time and be romantic with you. I want you to forget everything that has happened today."

"Peeta, your always so gentle and romantic when we make love."

"I know, but I want it to be extra special today"

He peels his eyes away from me and focuses on the hologram pad next to him. He flips through so more scenes. Winter background, mountains, animals roaming the plains. Finally after about 3 minutes he stops and I glance over to where he is standing and see that he has picked a forest hologram. My heart immediately pounded in my chest as he started to make his way over to me. I blushed as he crawled on the bed and hovered over me. Kissing me quickly on the lips.

"Your forest, My lady." He is so sweet.

"Will you make love to me now."

"Hmmm, Not just yet."

I pout and Peeta kisses my lip. "Stop pouting. I hate it when you don't smile. Now lay right here and relax" He kisses me again quickly before getting up off the bed and into the bathroom. I hear him rummage through the cabinets and before I know it; he is out of the bathroom carrying as many candles as he could carry. He sets them up around the room and lights every single one of them. The soft glow coming from the candles fills me with comfort. He walks over to his book bag and grabs a large sketchpad and pointed pencil.

I now know what he is up too. He suddenly pulls a pair of boxers on and pulls a chair to the foot of the bed. He takes a seat in the chair and smiles up at me. I frown at him in return. "Why did you do that? Don't hide that beautiful body of yours."

"They will be coming off soon. Don't worry"

"Peeta, Are we going to have sex or what?" I ask impatiently.

"Yes, but first I want to admire your body, Tell you how beautiful you are and then I'm going to take this sketch pad and drawl you naked. And then after I am done. I'm going to take you in your woods."

I smile at him and his words. "If I let you drawl me naked, NOBODY is to see it, understood?"

He nods, "it will be my private collection."

I take a deep breath. I have posed for him so many times, but I have never posed naked for him. He has never asked me too until now. I suddenly feel self-conscious. He is going to drawl my scarred body. He is going to really look at me.

As is he reads my thoughts Peeta clears his throat and says. "I want to really look at your beautiful body. I want to know and see every single curve, every single scar."

I take a deep breath and nod my head. "How do you want me?"

(Peeta's POV)

My heart is pounding so loudly in my chest, sweat is dripping from my forehead and my palms are shaking. I have never drawn her like this before. I tell her to lay down flat on the bed and to cuff her hands together as if she was getting ready to pray to god. She does what I tell her too and my heart nearly stops as I take in her position. She looks too beautiful, way too beautiful. I tell her to bring her braid over her left shoulder so it covers part of her nipple. I tell her to tilt her head so she is looking up at the ceiling. The position she is in looks uncomfortable for her and I'll try my hardest to be fast with this. Although I don't want to rush this. I want to take my time, get every curve, every line right. The last thing I tell her to do before I start to sketch is slightly part her legs so I can get small glimpse of her...private Areas.

I start on the outline first, making sure my lines and curves are correct. Sweat keeps pouring off my forehead and my breathing is deep and heavy. She is staring at the ceiling, but there is a smile on her face and I know she can sense my nervousness.

"Your Blushing, Mr. Mellark." She giggles.

I remain silent and let a small smile appear on my lips. I'm concentrating hard on my drawling.

"Looks like you cant handle a nude portrait" She teases.

I smile.

"Artist concentration." She continues to tease me.

"Miss. Everdeen I believe you are distracting the artist" I look up from my drawling. The whole left side of her body is almost outlined. I want to get this exact. She moves her head to look at me. I give her a scolding playful look. "No, No, No, don't move that head of yours" She obeys me and I continue. I drawl and drawl. I drawl the outline of her legs, her shoulders, her thighs, her ankles and finally after an hour and a half I have my outline complete. I know she is probably uncomfortable by now, but I don't say anything I keep going, keep drawling. I shade in every part of her, her nipple, her hands, her toes, her eyes and braid, mouth, ears, nose, lips. It took me a long while but after two hours I was done.

"You can move now" I tell her.

She sits up from the bed and rolls her neck in a circular motion. She stands up and stretches her naked body before coming over to me. "Let me see" She orders and I hand it to her. She gasp at the sight of it and I can't tell if she loves it or hates it. I absolutely love it, it has to be one of the best drawings I have ever done.

"Do you like it?" I question.

"Peeta, I...don't know what to say. You made me...wow...This doesn't...Do you really think I am this beautiful?"

"I don't think, Katniss, I know your this Beautiful."

Tears of joy run down her cheeks as she hands the drawling back to me. I stash it away, inside my book bag and as soon as my hands are free she takes them and pulls me up out of the chair. The candles all around us are dimming and the only source of light is coming from the hologram. you can hear birds chirping in the background of the forest hologram and the light that lights the forest is also dim.

Katniss takes my hand and leads me over to the bed. She stops next to it and kisses me deeply. I wrap my arms around her and press her hard against my body. Her bare skin feel good against mine. She pulls my boxers off my hips an I am once again naked. She soon breaks the kiss and lays back on the bed, never breaking eye contact with me. I follow her movements and gently crawl on top of her, pinning her against the mattress. She takes my left hand into hers and weaves our fingers together, bringing my hand up to her lips and kissing my knuckles.

"My big, strong, gentle Peeta" She whispers and kisses my knuckles. "My brave, handsome, sweet, Peeta, Make love to me. I've been waitng two hours"

I kiss her gently before lining our parts up and pushing into her as gently as I can. She is incredibly. I place both my hands on the mattress and lift some of my weight off of her. I always am afraid I will hurt her if I put all of my weight on her. I stay still until I know for sure having me inside her doesn't hurt. Her fingers are digging into my shoulder blades and her hips are suddenly rotating gently against mine. I take the hint and slowly push in and out of her. She moans and tightens her hold on my shoulder blades. She is so beautiful and amazing I can't get enough of her.

I put more weight on her and continue to thrust in and out of her. She grabs holds of my hands and threads our fingers. I pin them above her head, preventing her from digging them into make back any longer. She moans and cries in pleasure as I thrust a bit harder into her.

"OHHHHH, I love you...HMMMM"

"I...love you...HUH" I gasp out between thrusts. She is so amazing and I love her so much. She is grasping my hand as I go deeper and the more she moans the faster I want to move, but I can't be full blown rough with her for fear my venom will take my mind and I'll end up hurting her in the middle of it. I am huffing and puffing trying to suck in as much air as possible. There is a fire burning deep within my body and all I want to do was tame that fire and push the two of us over the edge. I know I won't last much longer so I try to make the best out of what little time we have.

"Peeta! OH"

I'm gasping for air, thrusting harder and harder into her. The bed is screaming in protest. The headboard hits the wall and I find myself shouting and moaning. I can feel myself ready to burst. My hands tangle in her hair as hers scratch and devour my bar back. She is scratching me so hard that I feel a small amount of blood starting to run down my back. Her hands go over the scars, gently creasing and scratching each one. I keep thrusting never once slowing my pace. I wanna push us both over the edge. Her hands move down to my backside and she guides my movements.

"OHHHHHH. Peeta...I...Need to..." She can't finish her sentence, words are not coming to her. She is so breathless.

"You okay?" I asks in concern. My voice is raspy and I'm panting. I pin her to the mattress and drive into her deeper. There is absolutely no escape for her.

"Please, Peeta...Don't stop" I'll try to obey her wishes and not stop, but the need for a release becomes unbearable.,

My heart is beating and something that has been building up is now ready to be released. When I do find my release I cry out and it almost sounds like I'm dying. I collapse on top of her completely spent, breathing heavy and trembling. Katniss's asks me a question that I don't quiet catch. I can't open my mouth to speak, I can barely move. All I can do is breath heavy and tremble. She guides my sweaty head to her chest and strokes my damp hair that is matted to my forehead. I feel like I just ran 5000 miles. My body is shaking, my heartbeat is racing and there is sweat all over the place. My blonde hair has darken a bit because of the sweat that has settled in my roots.

Katniss's chest is heaving. She too is having a hard time catching her breath. She strokes my hair and my back in a comforting way. I keep trembling and soon she starts to worry.

"Peeta?, Your Trembling" She kisses my forehead and runs her hands through my soaked head.

I let out a raspy laugh and assure her there is nothing wrong. "Your...just amazing"

"Are you okay,Peeta?"

"I'm fine, Katniss, that was just a really amazing Release. A really big Release"

"Really good sex then" She whispers.

"Yes" I agree with her. "Very, Very good sex"

I roll off of her and lay flat on my back with my arm over my eyes. She snuggles next to me and places her head on my chest. I take her in my arms and stroke up and down the length of her arm. She lets out a satisfied sigh and I feel her smile against my chest as she kisses it. She traces circles into my chest and every once in awhile kisses the scars that little my chest. Whatever was bothering her before has long since past and I'm glad she is content at the moment.

"Feeling better?" I ask quietly.

She nods her head "Much"

"Want to know about Gale's situation."

She nods her head. "Yes"

"He is being charged with assault. Delly's step-father is pressing charges. Apparently Samuel was walking down the street and Gale came after him, started swearing at him, then out of the blue started punching on him. Samuel's story was that he was minding his own business and was attacked. Gale broke his rib and nose I guess."

She shakes her head in disappointment. "Gale wouldn't go after someone without a reason."

"See, I talked to Delly and got her story and she said Sam was following the two of them the day we escorted you guys to the train. Delly said he said some bad things and then pulled a gun on them."

"Sam's denying it, isn't he?"

I nod my head. "Yes."

She frowns and rests her head on the pillow, letting out a angry sigh. "So he is going to get away with harassing them."

"Oh. We'll figure something out" I say and lean over and kiss her. I didn't want her good mood to go away so I immediately dropped the conversation. I just put her in a better mood by having mind-blowing sex with her. She seems happy right now and I wanted to keep her that way.

"We should probably get up" I say with a small yawn.

"I'm happy here. I love when you hold me after sex"

"I do too and I would love to hold you and make love to you all day, but I got an appointment." I mutter quietly.

"With who?" She asks curiously.

"The doctor" I say sitting up in bed.

Her face drops and she bites her lip. It drives me crazy when she bites that lip of her. It mean something is bothering her and she is not sure how to fix it. I know she doesn't want me talk to that doctor, but I haven't got a choice. I need to know more about what I am up against. The information that the doctor discovered was a step in the right direction in my recovering completely. There was just one thing I was concerned about and that was dying on the table. There was a 50% chance I would die on the table if I went through with this surgery.

To be continued...


	32. Appointments and Parties

Sorry its taken so long, I am so busy with work and stuff. I try. I have 2 weeks off soon imagine all the time :). I wanna have this done soon so I can start on the final installment.

Chapter 31

Appointments and Parties

(Katniss's POV)

I'm not sure when I fell asleep after Peeta made love to me, but when I opened my eyes he wasn't there and dusk was nearly upon us or at least I think it was. The hologram forest picture was still up and running and the room was still lit with candles that were slowly burning down to the wick. My body is hidden by a single sheet and when I roll over onto my side I see a piece of white paper and a beautiful pinkish red tulip flower. I smile to myself and lean over to Peeta's side of the bed, picking the delicate flower off the mattress and bringing it to my nose. I inhale the scent and sigh peacefully to myself. I love him so much, he is incredibly sweet when he does things like this. I scoop up the note that is laying on the mattress. It's too dark to read it in this dim light.

I turn the lamp on that is sitting on the end table and the room bursts with light. I examine Peeta's neat, cursive handwriting and my heart just swells with passionate love. I didn't have to guess to where he was. I knew where he was. He was meeting with that doctor, setting a date as to when to have that surgery. Surgery. Oh god, I didn't want to think about that, not now when everything is so peaceful.

_Katniss,_

_You looked to peaceful and beautiful for me to wake you up. I went to see Dr. Bryce and Dr. A. Turns out they know each other imagine that. I will be back later promise, right now I need to set a date for surgery and get all the information I can. Please don't worry about me. I'll be fine I promise. Don't sit in that room all day go out and do something until I get back. I love you always._

_-Peeta _

_PS I can't stop thinking about this morning. Maybe we can have a repeat when I get back. What do you say?_

I smile at his loving words and hold the note firmly against my chest. He isn't the only one that keeps thinking about our love making. I loved the way he touched me or the way he kissed my neck, lips and shoulder. Every kiss sent shivers down my spine. The repeat when he gets back is a definite yes. I loved the feel of his body on top of mine. He is so gentle and passionate when we make love. I want to do it over and over again.

I get up from the bed eventually and stretched my tired, sore muscles. I'm naked when I let the sheet drop from my body. I want to shower badly so I pad my way out of the bedroom, down the hall and into the capitols large shower. I have always been amazed at how large and complicated these things are. There are at least 12 knobs each one doing something different. I only know how to turn it on or off. If I wanted bubbles added, or bath salt or the jets on I just ask Peeta for his assistance. He has somehow managed to understand how these things work. Peeta is such a smart and loving man.

I turn on the lights to the bathroom and make my way over to the Tub/shower, whatever you want to call it. I pull back the curtain and debate weather or not I should take a quick shower and then make my way downstairs and find my long lost friend Hass. I feel bad for blowing him off when I first arrived here, but I was so scared and disturb by what that woman said about Peeta. Hass, at that moment was the last thing on my mind. I step into the shower, my feet shudder as they make contact with the cool tiles. I press the green button on the panel and water shoots from the shower head above me. The warm water tickles down my body as I scrub my hair and wash my body.

I decided to be brave and hit the large purple button next to the green one and as I did bubbles began to mix in with the water that was falling from the shower head. I smile to myself and pressed the blue button and then a yellow one. The yellow caused water to seep up through the floor and the blue allowed bath salt to be dumped in the tub. I was in a state of total bliss and it was about time too. I needed this comfort, needed to forget the horrors that I have went through in the past couple of months. nothing like this was ever going to happen again. Or I hope it wouldn't. I'm happy it is over and the monster is dead, I'm happy that Wadera never got a chance to carry out his plan and destroy the peace. Now there was only one thing to get through and that was Peeta's surgery. Was surgery really the answer? Was that how they injected him with that venom to begin with? How did they manage to feed him those lies and taint some of his memories. There was only one way to answer all of my questions and that is find out what he went through while he was being locked away in the capitol dungeons.

I have seen his torture tape before we even arrived at the capitol. He has the disk on him somewhere, but I wasn't going to risk putting it into the player and getting caught watching it again. He was pretty pissed at me last time he caught me watching his torture disk. I wasn't going to do it again. My mind goes to a certain someone that I haven't thought about in awhile. Johanna. She was with Peeta in the capitol. Both of them were severely tortured. I could talk to Johanna about it, but the last time I have seen her she was hovering over commander Rend's body crying her eyes out and I'm not even sure she is still here in this defense building anymore.

I needed to talk to my friends and family. I haven't even called my mother since I arrived at the capitol and I bet she is worried sick. I guarantee the capitol had broadcast Wadera's threats to the entire nation. So chances are everyone know Wadera tried to kill me. I guess I should call my mother in district 12; tell her everything that is going on. Maybe while I'm at it I'll call Annie. Oh god Annie, I am so glad that Wadera was bluffing when he said he was going to hurt Annie and little Finnick. I bet she is worried about me too because last time I spoke to her was when Wadera threatened her and I called her. There are so many people I need to talk to and spend time with. Annie, Johanna, mom, Hass, My prep team, Hell even Effie and Haymitch. They seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth.

I finish up my bath not before pressing one last button. A beautiful pink one. I immediately regretted my decision in pressing it. Water shoots out from all directions. I screech and hit the large red stop button. I chuckle to myself as soon as the water has faded. That was fun I got to admit. I do it again for kicks and then make my way out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. I have towel around my bare body and one wrapped around my head. I dress, blow dry my hair with the large ass blow-dryer in the bathroom.

I braid my hair and walk out of the bathroom and into the large living room. I remember Peeta's note, telling me not to laze around all day and I don't plan on doing anything like that. I guess I could call my mother first and then Annie. I wonder if my prep team will be up for a little shopping or maybe hanging out with Hass and Naomi. Actually I didn't want to hang out with her. She was so difficult to get along with. And whatever happened long ago with her and Hass was definitely none of my business, but I was curious about it.

I walk out of my room wearing jeans and a baggy t-shirt. I was going to do what Peeta's says and wander around until he came back, which was probably going to be hours from now. I padded my way down the hallway and stopped at the room next to mine. Delly and Gales. I wasn't sure if Delly was in there or if she was at the station. I knocked a couple of times and when I got no answer I continued down the hall towards Hass's room. I only had to knock twice and he opened the door.

I bite my lip. He was only wearing a pair of sweatpants there was a towel around his shoulders and his dark hair was wet probably from the shower. My eyes wander up and down his body. I really couldn't help but check him out. No harm in looking. I can look, but can't touch. Not that I would touch Hass to begin with. He was still Finnick's brother and had become one of my best friends. I just couldn't see him as anything romantic, besides I'm pretty sure Naomi would kick my ass. I don't care how much she denies her feelings for him. It is so obviously that she is...somewhere deep down, Still in love with him.

"Hey, Kitty, long time no see" He grins.

"Hey, What are you doing?" My eyes move down his chest and examine his large muscles. I mentally scold myself for looking.

"I was showering and then going downstairs and train a bit" He explains.

"Train for what?"

"Kitty, Kitty, Kitty. Just because that man is dead and Panem is safe doesn't mean I have to stop training and keep my body in shape. I'm somewhat of a solider; its m duty to protect; no matter what."

I roll my eyes at him and huff.

"Want to come in?" Hass invites.

"Actually I was thinking about getting a group of people together and maybe explore the capitol city, spend a little money"

Hass raises his eyebrows at me in confusion. "Who are you and what have you done with my kitty?"

"What? We all need a little fun, after everything we have been through I'd say we deserve it."

"Sure,I'll go, but there is something I have to ask first?"

"What?"

"What are you guys going to do about Gale? I mean the man is sitting in a jail cell for protecting his girl. Can we figure out a way to get him out. Maybe we can post bail."

"I don't know what we are going to do about him. I haven't been down to the station yet to visit him. We'll help him out it is just going take a little time"

Hass nods in agreement. We will help Gale soon or a later, but right now I want to relax. I need to relax because of the baby. I rub my tummy and smile to myself. I wonder if the capitol has any cute baby clothes or anything. WAIT, scratch that thought there was no way in hell I was going to dress my baby in some sort of capitol attire. God only know what kind of clothes they make for infants.

Hass must of read my mind because he chuckles, leans over and pats my stomach gently and says, "Yes, there are baby stores in the area. We can get them clothes"

"I don't even know the gender yet, so I wont be buying clothes." I say.

Hass chuckles and pats my tummy again. We talk for a couple of minutes and then I decided to get up and use his phone to call my prep team. Last time I talked to them was when they were getting me ready for that welcome party. I'm not sure where they are or how I can get ahold of them. I called the number I was familiar with and Venia immediately answered in a cheerful voice. I invited her to go shopping and prowl around town with Hass and I; she immediately accepted; the excitement in her voice could be heard from across the room. She started talking about my nails and how she was going to buy files, polishes and glitter. Flavius took the phone off her and started chatting away about my hair. I told my prep team meet me outside the defense building and that I'll talk later and then I hung up the phone and turned to Hass. The both of us burst out in laughter at my prep teams excitement that could be heard from across the room.

"They love to shop"I tell him with a laugh.

"I can tell" He replies.

"Got anyone else we should invite?"

Hass thinks for a moment, placing his index finger against his large jaw. "Naomi?" I make a face at this. Naomi wasn't the easiest person to get along with and I don't think she enjoys shopping and prowling around town with people that get on her nerves. I don't want to be a bitch and tell Hass no that we shouldn't invite her. My facial expression must of gave me away because Hass sighs heavily and nods his head multiple times. "Yeah, she probably wouldn't come anyway because of me."

"I could ask her to join its not a problem."

Hass bites his lip.

"Really its not a problem. I want to get to know my best friends..." I debate weather or not I should finish my sentence. I know Hass and Naomi are no longer together romantically. Isn't there any hope at all for them to be friends again? It not my business so I'll just stay out of it, but that won't stop me from inviting Naomi to join our little gang. After all she did help me and the others escape from Wadera; least I can do is invite her to hang out with us.

"Good. You should invite her; she needs to stop being so anti-social." Hass mutters softy.

"What room is she in?"

"5 rooms down from here."

I nod my head and make my way to the exit. I can see the nervousness and concern in Hass's gray eyes. I give him a reassuring smile and exit his room, shutting the door calmly behind me. I walk down the hallway and towards Naomi's room. Butterflies filled my stomach the closer I got to her room, either that or it was the baby that was dancing around, forming in my stomach. I place my hand over her, trying to soothe her.

I stop in front of Naomi's room and knock a couple of times. She answers immediately. She dark hair is pulled back into a sloppy ponytail and she is dressed in baggy sweatpants and a blue t-shirt. She raises her eyebrows at me in confusion, wondering why in the hell I am even here to begin with. She leans against her door frame and crosses her arms over her chest, waiting for me to start talking and tell her why I am here to begin with. Her eyes bore into mine and intimidate the shit out of me.

"Hi" I greet softly.

"what do you want, Mockingjay?"

"To invite you to a small get together. We are going shopping and I wonder if you might want to join us. I'm going to ask Johanna if she want to join us. It'll be me, Hopefully Johanna, My prep team and...thats it" I lie. I don't tell her Hass might be joining us; for fear she might reject me and say no. She narrows her eyes at me and I feel really uncomfortable again.

"And your inviting me because?"

I shrug. "I thought it would be nice for all of us to get out and treat ourselves. I mean after all we been through I'd say we deserve it."

She thinks for a moment and then to my surprise accepts my invitation. I am completely shocked and guilty at the same time. Guilty because I didn't tell her Hass would be joining us, guilty because of their rough past. Maybe it won't matter so much Hass did say they have been separated for some time now. Naomi slams the door in my face once I give her my answer and I'm not sure how to take it. Aggression? Nervousness? Anger? Who knows; she is hard to read and very unpredictable.

After I am done with Naomi I go to Johanna's room, only to find it empty. She up and left the defense building without a word to anyone. I can only guess it was because of Rend. She must of really loved him and has taken his death really hard. My mind wanders back to the night Rend fell to the ground dead. Johanna's piercing screams filled my ears as she sat next to his lifeless body and cried. Johanna Mason was a strong, brave young woman and it takes a lot for her to cry like that. Its hard to lose the one you love. Johanna needs space and I will give her space; she will reappear in time. She just needed time to heal and if I know Johanna she will heal in no time and go back to being the snarky, cocky, loving woman that I have come to know and love.

I wander back down the hallway and towards my room, but on the way there I asked someone where Johanna had taken off to and they said district 7. So she has finally gone home; good she needs familar territory. I head back to Hass's room and he is waiting on the couch with his feet on the coffee table and his hands behind his head. He is dressed more appropriately now. Thank god. I don't want to become distracted by his naked chest again. I know Peeta wouldn't like it if he caught me drooling over my friends hot body. He knows I'd never do anything and he knows Hass would never do anything.

Hass and I wander down the stairs and into the lobby of the defense building. Naomi is down there with my prep team and she has her fist clutched and she nods her head as Flavius chatters away about god knows what. We meet up with them and I shoot everyone a polite smile and so does Hass. Naomi rolls her eyes as she sees Hass by my side. She shoots me a look as in 'why didn't you tell me he was joining us' and thats that. She slowly, calmly walks off in the other direction. I knew this would happen. I knew she would skip out on us as soon as she seen Hass. Before she had the chance to escape further Hass goes after her and softly wraps his hand around her forearm. Naomi shoots him a look and I'm worried she might break his hand or something.

"I can leave" Hass says. "You really need to have some fun"

He gently pulls her back towards our group and to my surprise she lets him. There facing one another. You can feel the intensity in the air. Hass glances over his shoulder and smiles at me. "Something has come up, kitty, I won't be joining you after all" I almost hate Naomi for running Hass off. I was looking forward in spending time with my friend. I nod my head at him, noting wanting my foul mood to show. He smiles and causally walks the other way with his hands in his pockets. I can tell he is bumped out about this, but I brush my slight anger aside and take off out of the defense building with my Prep team chattering away and Naomi as quiet as a mouse. Oh god, this was a mighty mistake.

(Peeta's POV)

I sit on the end of the hospital bed, tapping my foot against the ground in anticipation. I'm biting my lip, my palms are sweaty and all I want to do is get this over with, set up an appointment with the doctor and get this venom out of my head once and for all. It turns out Dr. Bryce and Dr. A teamed up and found a specialist that specializes in this kind of thing. Not just Tracker jacker venom but supposedly this guy or girl, whatever they were helped the people that were tortured and abused by the capitol. I didn't know what all of this meant, but I was more than willing to be patient and talk with this guy. If he could help scarred war patients, Avoxs and injured capitol victims Then he can surely help me; a mental case that can't sort out his memories and tries to kill his fiancee. It is true I am completely screwed up and will do anything to make myself better.

I look at the clock. How much longer until I meet this guy? Dr. Aurelius already told me that it was this guy who suggested the surgery to begin with. I guess he and doctor Bryce made a couple calls to different people, explained my situation and what I went through. Most of the people my doctors talked to basically said I was shit out of luck, but not this guy. This guy was taking the time out of his day to see me and for that I was grateful.

The door finally opens and I bite my lip and lock eyes with a young man probably in his late 30s, natural curly, dark hair. He is wearing a white doctors robe and his piercing brown eyes are boring into mine. He crosses the room and three long strides and offers me his hand.

"Mr. Mellark. Nice to meet you. I'm Doctor Cres."

"Nice to meet you" I smile back.

He takes a seat in a nearby chair and flips through multiple papers that are clipped to his clipboard he had been carrying. I watch him as he scans my paperwork. Eyebrows dipped in complete concentration. Finally after 5 eerie minutes of silence; he looks up at me.

"Well, now Mr. Mellark. You sure do got a situation, now don't you?"

I nod "Yes, I do. Can you help me with it?"

"I can certainly try, but let me explain something to you first."

"I'm all ears."

"I was a capitol doctor way back when. They had me treat the wounded capitol soldiers during the war and the injured victors they pull out from the arena. I know how you feel about Capitol doctors and I don't blame you, Mr. Mellark, but I can assure you I will do everything in my power to make sure you rid yourself of your problems."

"The surgery? It's the only thing that can cure me, right?"

"That I know of. There is no bottled liquid. What they did to you Mr. Mellark was injected you with a strong venom that is designed to target and irritates the brain. It makes you see things that aren't there. Confuses your mid and body. Can you tell me how much and how many times a day the injected you with it?"

I sigh not wanting to relive my torture, not wanting to go back to my jail cell and see the hateful eyes of peacekeepers and Snow as the beat me for information I didn't know.

"It varied. Some days they would give me a lot and other days it was just the beatings and watching TV, but soon it became constant They'd give me a small vile a day. They would shove the IV into my arm. Hard. And then just start pumping it into my body. It burned when it went in and about a half an hour after they did it I would get these really bad headaches, I would throw-up on the floor and that was when they swarmed me. Told me thing about my Fiancee, showed me things. I'm not sure if the clips they showed me were Real or not real."

"What would they show you?"

Oh god I don't want to talk about this "My fiancee kissing another man or killing innocent people. I knew the killing of innocent people was all wrong Katniss would never do that. I don't understand it. None of it."

"The venom is designed to target the a certain part of the brain that generates fear, causing terrible visions. The capitol wanted to drive certain people into madness. The images a person sees are sometimes absurd afterwards and don't make sense. That was what the capitol wanted. Now in your case...The Hijacking."

"I understand everything about that. My memories of certain things have been simulated and associate with pain and fear. I know about them rewriting things, showing me things I know aren't real. I know all that. I just don't want to become violent when they happen. I don't want to try and kill Katniss when a false memory takes over. I know the false memories are there forever. I accept that...I just need help. I don't want to hurt anyone."

Cres nods his head in understand. "Thats what I am here for. Your brain is what triggers it, all the emotion you feel comes from you brain. You need to control your emotions."

I roll my eyes in anger, not wanting to hear the same crap over and over again. "Yeah, thats what everyone says. How can I not get angry or sad. How can I not get beyond excited when me and my fiancee make love" My face turns red as I say the last part. "Emotions are what makes me human and your telling me to shut them out? Impossible."

"I Know you can't shut them out. No person would be able to turn off their emotions. I have an idea forming in my head, Peeta. I have seen it done on countless men that suffer from the same thing you are suffering from."

"You want to perform surgery on my brain." I state.

He nods "Yes, I can't help you with the false memories, but I can at least help you so there will be no trace of venom in your system; just the after effects of the fake memories the capitol implanted in there."

"Doesn't the venom dissolve after awhile and turn into a memory?"

"Yes it could, but you received multiple doses; its very possible that it still lingers and it is targeting a certain part of your brain that deals with your emotions. If you get upset easy the venom will irritate your brain and you will become enraged and aggravated"

"I really thought it only calls on a memory and gives the capitol the chance to change the memory." I point out.

"It does...but sometimes it can linger and make a person hateful. It all depends on the amount they give you."

"At first not very much, but the madder they got the more the would injected. A vile a day"

"We'll help you Mister Mellark"

"Please I just want to stop hurting my fiancee. I have to be extra careful now since she is pregnant"

Cres's face lights up and he leans over to shake my hand. "Congratulations" He smiles.

"Thank you" I let a small smile appear on my face and my thoughts go to Katniss. who should be relaxing and taking care of herself. I told her in the note I left her not to laze around the apartment all day and pine over me. She would do that if I let her. No, I hope she found something constructive and useful to do with her time.

"Look I'm not saying that I want you to erase the false memories the capitol gave me. Because I know you can't do that; they are rewritten."

"We could try to reverse the affect of the false memories" Cres says.

"Meaning?"

"Say we injected you with more venom and called upon the memories that were tainted by the capitol. If those memories show up and we were somehow able to influence positive emotions."

"More venom would mean..." He cuts me off.

"More violence. I know. Nothing good can every come from the venom. The bees it comes from were genetically enhanced in the capitols lab" I nod in understand. The capitol was always creating new things to terrorize people with. It doesn't surprise me that they would create things like this.

"So where do we begin?" I question.

"Do you want me to see if we can hijack you back? Erase all the bad memories they implanted"

"Would that be hard to do?"

"Yes, extremely." He replies. "We would have to injected you with more venom, call upon the false memories and replace the it with positive emotions and thoughts. It's extremely difficult to do and then after that I figured we can surgically go in there and remove venom that is irritating parts of your brain."

I am completely silent for a moment. This is a lot to take in. Could this really work? Could I really be the man I used to be? The man that would never lay a finger on a woman. It is for the best. I can do this for Katniss, For the baby, for myself. But this all seems so complicated and half the things he is saying I've heard before. The memories are permitted that I can live with. I can live with flashing back and see Katniss try to kill my family or try and kill me. I just don't want to come after her when I do see these things and according to the doctor there are doses of Tracker Jacker venom still targeting and irritating my mind. When a fake memory comes, the irritation comes right along with it.

"I could die right?" I suddenly blurt out after a couple minutes of silence.

"Yes, Peeta, I won't lie to you; this is an extremely difficult process and one false move could mean your death, but this is the only option that we have. There is nothing else we can do for you in order to get rid of it."

I place my head in my hands and sigh. This is all to much for me to handle. My mind goes to Katniss and my heart nearly breaks at the fact of me dying and her holding a 3 month old baby alone and depressed. She told me once before that if anything happened to me that she would not be able to move on. That she would be right after me. I can't think about that I can't think of her having our baby and then giving up the will to live because of me. I can't live with myself for beating her, yelling and screaming at her, calling her terrible names. I want to get better for her, for us.

"Okay, I will do it. I'll go thorough the procedure" I finally say.

"Your certain. There is no going back after signing the papers" Cres warns me.

"I"m sure. Dr. A and Dr. Bryce went through all this trouble and helping me. I can't turn my back on this now. I want to be healthy for my fiancee and my baby. I'll risk it."

"Alright, if thats what you want"

"It is"

I leave the doctors office shortly after 8:00. The sun has set behind the horizon and a chilly breeze sweeps over the capitol. The defense building is quiet when I get back, a little too quiet for my liking. I stumble into the elevator and place my head against the wall. I can't believe I agreed to basically have brain surgery. Oh well, this is why I am here isn't it? To find a cure. Who would of known it would be this complicated to pull off. I am beginning to like Wadera's 'supposedly cure' better. The pink bottle he claimed to be the cure. He was just fooling us. He didn't have a cure; it was all a plot to lure Katniss to him.

I get out of the elevator and walk down the long hallway towards our room. I enter and the first thing I hear is someone rummaging through our fridge. Bottles are being clicked together. I round the corner and come face to face with my long lost mentor and friend Haymitch. Holy crap, he sure knows how to pop up out of nowhere. I tiptoe quietly towards him. He hasn't seen me yet, so I know I can scare him if I wanted to. Although thats probably not the best idea. He turns around and jumps anyway as he finds what he is looking for in the fridge.

"Boy, its rude to sneak up on people!" He snap.

"Its rude for you and Effie to take off without a word"

Haymitch points a threatening finger at me "We were the ones to track that old fool down for you"

"Who?" I asked confused.

"That doctor. Dr. Aurelius, That crackpot Bryce and Myself all busted our asses for you. That guy was hard to come by" Haymitch says.

"Fine, but I'm still mad you up and left, but grateful at the same time."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Now that your ass up to the pool a party has begin" Haymitch grins.

"Party?" I guess the look on my face is priceless because Haymitch starts laughing cockily at me. Boy, I missed his cocky laugh. He shakes the beer bottles in front of me and then moves across the room grabbing me by the shirt collar.

"Come your girl is upstairs in the pool. Everyone is having a pool party."

"Really!? A pool Party? Isn't that against the rules"

Haymitch shrugs "Nobody has yelled yet. Hell Creft is even joining in. Drunk as hell now. Don't even know what he is doing. It's very entertaining these people can't hold there liquor."

Haymitch leads me to the top floor where the pool is. I've only been up here once and that was when Katniss and I first came here. I threw her in and we both had a good laugh. When we enter the lights are dimmed a bit, people are swimming, dancing and drunk as can be. Haymitch leaves me by the entrance and stalks into the crowd of people that are on the dance floor. I hear him shout ' I got more Alcohol' And all I do is roll my eyes. I scan the room, trying desperately to find Katniss. After a couple seconds of searching I see her sitting there with her legs stretched out on a chair. She is by herself and I take my time to examine her beauty. She is sitting there watching people and letting a smile take over her face. I stare at her in awe as one of her hands rubs her stomach. Her lips are moving softly like she is taking to someone and it becomes obvious she is talking to our baby.

I can't take it anymore I go over to her. making my presence known. She smiles at me and I return the smile. I don't wait for her to open her mouth and say hello to me. I lean down and capture her lips in a greeting kiss. It's brief and sweet.

"Hi" I greet her with a smile.

"Hi" She greets back.

"What are you doing?"

"Having a party" She smiles.

"You better not be drinking Haymitch's booze." I joke with her.

She frowns at me. "Really, Peeta, I'm pregnant. "

"I know I was just teasing you" I say and lean in to kiss her again.

"Party was Hass's Idea and Commander Creft went along with it. It's very entertaining watching these people act like idiots." Katniss giggles. "Some of them are worse than Haymitch"

"Doubt that" I chuckle.

She smiles, takes my hand and scoots over on the large pool chair she had been sitting in. I sit next to her and she curls up against my side; her head on my chest. "Are you tired?" I ask her.

"No, not really. Just relieved that your back and that your okay and holding me. Don't ever stop holding me"

"I won't"

We sit there for a couple of minutes listening to the loud beat of the music. Its fast and exotic. I examine the room full of people, my mouth drops as I catch sight of Gale and Delly in the middle of the dance floor. The two of them are beyond drunk. Well Delly more so then Gale.

"Gale is out of jail already?" I ask Katniss giving her a questionable look. That was fast. I figured it would take time in getting him out of jail, but apparently Delly would not shut up until she had her man out of jail.

"Yeah, Delly kept running her mouth to the warden at the station, said Sam pulled a gun on them and that Gale was acting in self-defense. They dropped all the charges against him because Sam broke the restraining order. He wasn't allowed to come near Delly and he did anyway. And turns out he did pull a gun on them, Security cameras in the vicinity caught the whole thing on tape. Gale was still fined though for assault. All he had to do was pay the sum and he was free."

"I'd like to get ahold of Sam myself" I say.

She titles her head up from my chest and looks up at me. "No, I need you by my side right now, not in a jail cell." She leans up and kisses the corner of my mouth. "The baby needs you. She is growing. I can barely keep anything down. Although that bread you made awhile ago helps. I might have to ask you to make more."

"I'll make as much as you want" I smile.

"Good because it seems like your daughter likes it."

"What makes you think it is a girl, Katniss"

"I just got this feeling"

Katniss and I sit on the chair for a couple minutes talking and watching people act like drunks. The music goes from loud and annoying to slow and romantic. Couples are beginning to take their place on the dance floor. I lean over and kiss Katniss just above the ear.

"Dance with me" I mumble seductively.

"Hmmm. Okay"

I take her by the hand and lead her out on the dance floor. She wraps her arms around my neck and I place my hands at her hip. We sway back and fourth to the music. Her hands curl in my hair and she tries with all her might to bring my body closer, but its impossible our bodies are as close as they can go.

"I love you" She whispers and goes for my lips.

"I love you" I say back and allow her to connect our lips.

We dance, we chat, dance, she eats, I have a couple beers. I talk to Gale and she talks to Hass. Overall its a good night. We retire earlier than most people because Katniss get tired because of the baby. We make our way back to the room where she takes her clothes off and changes into a silky nightgown. I pull my pants off and my shirt over my head. I'm about to slide on sweatpants when she stops me.

"Get over here, don't put nothing else on" She orders.

"Yes ma'am" I chuckle and get into bed with nothing but my boxers on.

As soon as I slide into bed she straddles me and I'm laying on my back with her on top of me. She leans down and kisses me, running her hands down my chest.

"Now, Mr. Mellark, I believe you said something about having a repeat of this morning."

"Hmm I thought you were tired."

"A bit, I just wanted to get you away from wandering eyes and into my bed."

"Seductive girl" I comment.

"Oh Mr. Mellark. You have no idea. Now I"m in control here, lay back and enjoy" She kisses me passionately on the mouth and runs her hands up and down my bare chest, tracing every scar with her soft hands. I move my hands down to her hips and squeeze them gently. She squeaks and bit and bats them away. We get hot and heavy a couple minutes later and she is just about to rid me of my boxers but a loud, large moan makes us freeze and blush. Katniss lifts her head off my chest and tilts her head in the direction of the moans.

"Holy crap who the fu..." She starts but her question is suddenly answered.

"OH HASS OH GOD OH GOD HASS"

Katniss rolls off of me and I groan in protest "Good mood gone" she says and wraps herself in the large blanket. She curls up next to me and we both try and drain out the loud noises come from the room next to ours. We are silent for a moment, trying to fall asleep, but the moans are so loud.

"God, I feel like a pervert, Katniss. How do we not listen to this?" I ask blushing.

"Who is he...oh my god...Can you turn on music or something. I can't believe he is doing this"

I nod and roll out of bed, walking over to a metal plate to turn on a hologram and some soothing music that will put us to sleep and hopefully drown out the girls moans of pleasure. I put on the forest hologram and turn the music up as loud as it goes. We can't hear anything after that. We lay in each others arm and soon we drift off peacefully. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow; tomorrow is the day I have to tell her that I signed up for the brain surgery.

To be continued...


	33. Preparing

To Galehater; I'm so sorry about your leg I hope you make a full recovery and don't worry about not reviewing I won't get mad or nothing. Like I always say if you got nothing to say then please don't review. Hope you feel better and to the rest of you please enjoy the next chapter. And don't worry you all I will finish no matter what its almost done. I don't do well with long chapters. This chapter is kind of fluffy, Sex, Kissing and some drama. Enjoy. ps I will go back and reread this in the morning it is about 2 am and I wanted to get this chapter out to assure you I am alive and well, that I am not going anywhere. All my stories will be finished. lol :)

Chapter 33

Preparing

(Katniss's POV)

The next couple of days were so boring for me. Peeta and I wandered the capitol buying useless trinkets and staring at the large structure buildings that fill the entire city. The date of the surgery was set for three days from now; on a Monday. I can barely stand the nervousness that has been creeping up inside me as I think about his hijacking and episodes. I prey to god that this works. That Peeta won't be violent anymore when he has his outbursts, that he won't have massive headaches and get sick. I hope and pray everything goes smoothly. I cant stand the thought of his leaving me and the baby. To tell you the truth if he dies during this operation I might as well die with him. There is no way in hell I'm going to go on living without him. I know I should think of the baby ; that should be my first priority, but honestly if Peeta dies I will be nothing but an empty shell; kind of like I was when Prim died, but worse. I could not go on living without him. I would probably wait for a couple of months, give birth and then give up the will to live. None of that is going to happen though; thats what I had to keep telling myself. Peeta was strong and fierce; there was no way he was going down without a fight.

We walk down the busy streets of the capitol hand and hand. The sun is shining high in the sky and there is a gentle breeze that is flowing through the capitol. I use my free hand to tightened my hold on my jacket as the breeze makings me shiver. Peeta drops my hand completely and places an arm around my shoulder; pulling me against his warm body. We have been walking the streets for nearly an hour and a half. The baby's about had it; it is pestering me for food. I find myself getting more and more hungry than usual. Peeta says its natural. That I'm eating for two now; so it is okay to ask him to make me food. I have been having him cook me cheese buns mostly these last couple of days because thats what I have been craving. cheese Buns dipped in lamb stew. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Peeta and I past a couple shops on our way to the defense building. I am almost getting sick of staying in that place. As nice and comfortable as it is to stay in; I miss home, I want my own bed and own kitchen, I want my woods and my friends and sadly even my mother. She still doesn't know that I'm pregnant again and she probably won't be to happy once I tell her. In fact I half-expect her to be pissed at us for once again being careless about having sex. She had 'the talk' with me before and it was awkward and embarrassing, something I never want to discuss again. I'll tell her eventually, perhaps when Peeta's surgery is all done and successful; after we go home and get married. I can't wait to marry him.

I look down at my ring finger on my left hand and smile as I see my beautiful engagement ring settled on my finger. I can't believe it stayed on after everything I have been through. I didn't lose it and it didn't fall off either. It still remained on my ring finger as beautiful as eve r.

"Are you hungry, Kat?" Peeta asked suddenly, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Very"

"You want me to take you out or cook for you? And Actually there is a little restaurant right across from the defense building. I can take you there. Its up to you." He smiles.

"I want you to cook for me" I chose.

"And what would my beautiful Fiancee want for dinner this evening?" He questions with a grin.

I stop moving and he does too. I wrap my hands around his neck and place a gentle kiss at his neck, cheek and then ear. I let my lips linger there and whisper, "I want you for dinner. I want your hands on me and your warm lips. I want you to lay on top of me and gently make love to me."

I look up into his blue eyes; his face is a deep shade of red and he is speechless, unable to process my words quickly. I love making my fiance speechless. I feel powerless and in control when he is doesn't know what to say. It is strange; I have been craving his love, his touch and kiss for awhile now. All I want to do is take him to bed with me and have my way with him. I don't know if its just my hormones ragging, they have been all over the place lately. Or if its just his effect he has one me. I love they was he touches me and I crave for more all the time. I never get tired of making love to Peeta. I haven't made love to him for a couple days and the last time we tried to make love the good mood was destroyed. We heard Hass going at it with god knows who. I have been avoiding Hass for the last couple of days because of that reason. I heard him that night. And I don't want to embarrass him by telling him I heard him and whoever go at it. I know if I talk and hang out with him something might slip.

I turn my attention back to Peeta and run my hands through his blonde hair. "I love your hair" He smiles and I stand on my tiptoes to kiss him, ignoring the glances and whispers we got from the wandering capitol people. "Your beautiful eyes. Your hands. And I love the fact that I am carrying your baby."

Peeta chuckles as I finish trying to seduce him. He kisses me and raises and eyebrow at me, wiggling it back and fourth. "I'll see what I can do about your needs. Now what about your food craving?"

"Cheese Buns." I reply.

Peeta gives me a small scolding look, but the corner of his lips are twitched up into a smile so I know he is just fooling around. "You need a real meal"

"Surprise me" I say and kiss him quickly.

Peeta chuckles as I drop his head and walk into the large building in front of us. The lobby is nearly empty only a few people linger in the corner, chatting with each other. Peeta is trailing in behind me deep in thought. Probably about what he is going to make me for dinner tonight. We are just about to enter the elevator when something catches my eye. It's Hass. He is sitting on one of the lobby benches with his head in his hands. His arms tremble and his bottom lip quivers almost like he is about to cry. He is wearing a baggy ripped-u t-shirt and night pants, no socks, no shoes, just bare foot. He looks like hell.

Peeta tugged on me and I blinked; realizing the elevator was open and waiting for us to push the appropriate floor number. I look back at my friend. Something is wrong with him. I just can't leave him in the state he is in. He needs somebody, anybody. He needs his friends. He has no family to talk to except for Annie and little Fin, but they are miles away.

"I'll be right up" I tell Peeta. He peers over my shoulder and his blue eyes rest on Hass. He nods, leans down and kisses me before entering the elevator and disappearing from my sight.

I wander over to the bench and take a seat next to Hass. I crossed my legs over one another and gently tapped my foot against the ground. I place my hand on Hass's shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze. He looks up and there is deep sorrow in his gray eyes. They look like their about to burst with tears, but if I know Hass and I kinda sorta do. He won't cry; he's a strong man.

"Hey, What's the matter?" I ask.

"I"m an idiot, Kitten" He replies quietly.

"No, don't say that" I lightly scold.

"I just keep hurting her time and time again."

"Naomi?" I blurted out without much thought.

He raises a eyebrow at me. "Yeah. It's always her. It's been her for a long, long time. You know I never once stopped thinking about her when we parted ways five years ago. I loved her. Hell, I'm still in love with her. I screwed up again, I shouldn't have..." He bites his lip and lets a frown appear on his face. We still in silence for a couple of minutes. I an feel his pain and sorrow. What the hell happened in the last couple of days. Hass seems to surprise me more and more as everyday. There is so much I don't know about him. He still remains a total mystery sometimes.

"What happened?" I ask soothingly.

"Where do I begin" He mutters.

"After we got rescued start there"

He sighs heavily. "Lets see. We talked about a lot. She thanked me for saving her life again. I kisses her, she slap me and told me not to go there. The night of that pool party is when we really began to fight. I told her I'm not going to let her go this time. That I will do whatever it takes to be with her again. It's a really long story Kitty and it will take all night to tell it. Lets just say we fought, I drank and got drunk. I can't hold my liquor very well. I was so mad at her that I had..." He bites his lip again and gulped down air,"I had a one night stand with the blonde secretary and what do you know; Naomi came into my room the next morning to tell me she can't fight her feelings that she has been fighting them, denying her love for me. That she stayed up all night thinking. She walked in on the Sectary and me, naked and in bed. I'm so fucking ashamed of myself, Kitty. I don't usually use women like that. I had sex with her because I couldn't have Naomi."

Oh crap he really did screw himself must be really bad because he just swore and I never heard Hass swear before. This man in front of me remains a total mystery. There is still so many thing I have yet to discover about him. It was a real shocker how he turned out to be Finnick's half-brother. I would of never guessed that. I placed my hand on his shoulder again and gently squeezed in reassurance.

"I'm here for you as you were here for me. I'm lucky I met a guy like you. It will all fall into place. I promise. If you are meant to be with someone then love will find a way" My subconscious rolls her eyes at me. Who am to talk about love and things like that to another person.

"Thank you, Kitty" He smiles and then leans forward and kisses me on the forehead. I get up from the bench and glance around our surroundings. The sectary he was talking about sits at the front desk. She peers over her glasses scanning through a list of papers, completely unaware of Hass's presence or my own. I can only assume that's who he slept with considering she is the only blonde haired woman in the whole defense building and she is the only blonde secretary for that matter. Hass stands up with me and briefly gazes at himself.

"I should probably change before talking to her, huh?" He questions me seriously.

I nod my head. "Yeah, probably. You look a little rough"

"Geez, thanks Kitty" He crackles a smile and pulls me into a gentle hug before walking briskly towards the elevator. I hang back a couple of seconds until he disappears. I decided a long walk up the stairs would do me some good; give me a chance to clear my head of any negative thoughts that might be creeping up inside my days. I have three days with the man I love. Or maybe more, hopefully more. He won't die on the table I just have to keep telling myself that. Peeta's strong; he's not weak. He can pull through this. He can pull through a small surgery. Small? More like a large one. Their going into his brain and removing the lingering venom. One false move of the doctors hand and thats it he's dead. My baby will never know her father.

I place my hand on my stomach and stop on the staircase. I listen for footsteps that indicate someone is in here with me, but when I hear nothing but the sound of my beating heart and heavy breath I let the tears come thick and fast. I slouch against the far wall of the stairwell and bring my knees up to my chest. My sobs echo the entire stairwell and I pray to god nobody will come in here and hear me. I cry and cry, thinking about Peeta's surgery that will take place and three days. The baby flutters at my discomfort and I pat my stomach.

After my little episode in the stairwell I enter the apartment room. The smell of stew and cheese Bun immediately greet me and my mouth waters in response to the glorious smell. I kick off my shoes and plop down on the couch, completely exhausted from the walk up the stairs and from the walk Peeta and I took this afternoon. I pat the baby as my stomach growls for food.

"Daddy's making us something to eat" I mumble to her.

"Yes, he is" Peeta smiles as he comes into the room and takes a seat next to me on the couch. He places his hand on my stomach and gently lifts up my shirt so he can press his hands against my bare skin. I feel the baby flutter at her father's touch and my heart pounds in my chest as he leans down and kisses my flat stomach. Peeta looks up from kissing my stomach and peers into my eyes. His face falls and his expression becomes serious. You can tell I have been crying. My cheeks are red and my eyes are puffy from crying.

"Katniss?"

"I'm scared" I tell him and the tears are back.

"I know. I am too" He takes me in his arms and rocks me back and fourth.

"I can't do this without you."

"You won't, Honey. I promise" He kisses me and continues his rocking. I really got to get out of this city and go back home where I can be happy and not constantly cry over things like this. This whole city is depressing. No matter where I am or what I am doing in this city; everything reminds me of death and despair. We may have a new government and new people in charge of everything, but deep down it will always be the city of horrors.

"I love you, I love you so much" I connect our lips and drive him into a deep passionate kiss. Tears flow from my eyes as our lips fight for dominance. He eventually picks me up bridal style and moves through the room. He clumsily turns on the stove and oven. The food is forgotten and he is taking me to apartments bedroom. There he lays me down gently on the soft mattress, removes my clothes and we once again make passionate love.

Afterwards My head is laying on his chest, and he creases my bare arm and drops kisses on my head. I hear nothing but the sound of his heartbeat and the intake of breath. I am happy, satisfied by our activities. Peeta eventually moves my head to the pillow, but not before giving me a chaste kiss on the head. I whimper in protest as his heat vanishes and he gets up from the bed wearing nothing but his skin.

"I want food" He says with a smile.

I pout, "How romantic"

He chuckles at me and shakes his head. I watch him pull on his boxers, a pair of baggy pants and a tank-top. He pads his way back over to the bed and sits on my edge. I'm laying on my back with the sheet drawn to my chest, hiding it from his view. Peeta leans down and gives me a kiss.

"Are you okay?"

"I think so for now. Until my mind decides to have another meltdown."

"Look at me" He says and tilts my chin up. I refuse to make eye contact with him, cause I don't want to hear him tell me I have nothing to worry about. "Look at me, Kat" I do as he says and hold back tears. "I love you and I'm not going anywhere. Do you understand?" I bite my lip and let out a small sob. "Katniss, I love you"

"I love you too"

We eat shower and then go to bed. I snuggle under the covers using his shoulder as a pillow. We have nothing to do today so a small snap will not hurt us. It will be boring for the next couple of days. Peeta and I will have nothing to do, not like that is a bad thing. I rather laze about in the room instead training and fearing for my life. I don't have to worry about some psycho trying to end me and the people I love. It is so warm a cozy in the bed. The hologram is going, but its not of my forest. Peeta has switched in to a incredibly bright purplish, orange sunset. Peeta holds me against his warm body and I feel my muscles relax.

"Hmmm" I sigh peacefully.

"What?" Peeta mutters against my hair.

"I want to stay like this forever. Me wrapped up in your arms. Just the two of us, nobody else."

"I'd like that"

We were silent for a moment. "Peeta?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to name the baby?"

"I haven't thought about a name yet. How about you? What do you want to name the baby?" He places his hand gently against my stomach and my heart thumps loudly at the thought of Peeta touching his unborn baby.

"I had a couple names in mind." I say.

"Such as?"

"Well for starters if its a girl, which I know it will be. Saffra Marie Mellark. What do you think?"

He bites his his in nods his head in approval. "Not bad and the boy"

I chuckle. "I'm not having a boy"

"But what if you do?"

"Orion Joshua Mellark"

Peeta's face turns red and he is speechless for a second. "You don't want to give him my middle name"

"No, I really do" I smile. I know Peeta hates his middle name with a burning passion and the thought of our son having it is unbearable for him to stand. I love Peeta's middle name; it just sounds so right. Peeta Joshua Mellark.

"I will settle for Orion, but not Joshua" He says with a cringe to his middle name.

"I love your middle name. Please Peeta. If its a boy thats what I want his middle name to be."

he shakes his head and I know I'm going to have to fight him on this one. It's going to be trick but I think I can figure out a couple ways in order to convince him to let me give the boy his middle name. I know I'm not having a boy so its not going to be an issue. I just have this gut feeling that this baby is going to be a girl. I place my hand flat against my stomach and smile wide. She is in there, growing, safe and sound and honestly I can't wait to meet her. I take Peeta's left hand and place it on my stomach. He looks down at me with nothing but love in his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes I love so much. That is the best thing about him is those eyes, that and his wonderful personality. No, I love everything about Peeta and I pray that this baby acts just like him and not me.

What am I going to do if I have a boy? I'll be happy with whatever gender comes out of there. I'm not going to be disappointed if I have a boy instead of a girl and I won't be disappointed with a girl instead of a boy. This is Peeta's baby and I will love it no matter what it is or how it acts. My thoughts are wandering and reality finally hits me hard in the chest. A baby. A small tiny baby growing inside of me. I never wanted this, never wanted to have kids and that was that. I tighten my grip on Peeta's hand which was still laying on my stomach, but his breathing was becoming deep and I could tell he was now falling asleep.

Reality hits me like a ton of bricks. I'm pregnant. A baby. something I have never wanted in my entire life. I'm responsible for her. I have to feed her, change her, tend to her every need. My frightened thoughts are back. The ones about the games being reinstated, the thoughts of me failing to take care of my baby. My thoughts wander back to Peeta and the thoughts of him dying on that table in three days. I will myself to stop thinking about it I just take a deep breath, rub my baby, and snuggle deeper into Peeta's warm chest. I eventually close my eyes and fall asleep.

(Gale's POV)

I walk down the streets of the capitol hand and hand with Delly. How I just want to get her behind closed doors and have my way with her. I'm entirely grateful, forever in her debt that she managed to get me out of that hell of a jail. It didn't take long for them to see the security tapes and realize I was acting in self-defense and when they saw Sam pull the gun on us the tables were turn and we were the good guys. Sam replaced me in that jail cell when the lead officer figured out he broke the restraining order. I'm not sure what they intend to do with him, weather its keeping him in that jail cell, giving him a trail or just setting him free, but one thing is for certain he will not and I repeat not come near Del again. That's a promise. He comes near her again and I"ll kill him.

The day is slow; it has been like that for a couple of days now. Ever since the death of that sicko things in the capitol seemed to be getting back to normal and its only a matter of time before Paylor releases me of my duty. Mellark and I signed a temporary contract at the defense building. They only needed us for a short time, only long enough for us to find that sicko. I was happy and looking forward to going home to my siblings, they have been alone for far too long and I only hope Mrs. Everdeen was taking good care of them. Although I'm not concerned about Rory or Vick, they are much older than they used to be. Teenagers to be exacted and if I know Teenagers they don't want moms, dads or older brothers and sisters cramping their style. I make a mental note to call them when we get back to the room.

Delly is happily gazing at all the people that pass us on the streets. The capitol clothing fascinates her, all the colors and skin dyes. I don't think she has ever seen people like this. We've decided to go for a walk since there really is nothing for us to do at that building. We can go home at any time, but I want to stick around a little while longer and support Katniss as Peeta goes under in a couple of days. They think they found a cure to his hijacking, we'll Haymitch and some doctor busted their asses found it. That's why Haymitch and Effie disappeared for a long while. I don't know the whole story as to how they found that doctor that knew of a cure for hijacking victims and I could care less. All I care about is Mellark getting cured for Katniss's sake and all of us going home for good. No more violence or the capitol. Nothing. As soon as my feet leave this tainted soil I will be relieved and will never step foot out here again.

I snap out of my thoughts as Delly finally stops dead in her track. In front of us stood a massive black wall with a long and I mean very long lists of names of the people who were killed in war. There were names of soldiers, Capitol victims that were tortured and slain, Tribute names ( there were at least over a thousand names of tributes on this wall. All going back from the very first hunger games), The wall was so huge and incredible. Delly placed her hand against the smooth black stone and examined the names on the bottom. I shift on my feet in comfort. I don't want to be in this part of town.

"We can leave if you want" She says sensing my discomfort.

I am quiet and do not answer her, instead I place my hand against a couple of names and sigh. My eyes skim through the list. There were name after name of people I didn't recognize and people I did recognize from the games and of soldiers. Delly finally threads our fingers and pulls me away from the wall. We continue our journey down the sidewalk.

I break the silence that has settled between us. "You know I never meant to hurt anyone."

"I know"

"If I would have known that bomb..." She places her index finger on my lips, silencing me.

"Shh, its over."

"I just think about it a lot. That bomb, those kids, Primrose."

"Shh, not another word" She stands on her tiptoes and struggles to kiss me. I lean down and allow her small, warm lips to press against mine. My stomach fills with butterflies as my arms go around her waist and I lean over more. When we part she smiles and then we continue our journey down the sidewalk. We pass shops, restaurant, flower and jewelry stands. Just about anything you can think of. We walk and walk and walk until Delly finally gets tired and sits down on the bench. I sit next to her and lace our fingers. She smiles warmly at me and rest her head on my shoulders.

"I love you" he whispers and brings her head up off my shoulder. I never get tired of hearing that confession. I'm just about to open my mouth when something or should I say someone catches my eye. I peer over her shoulder and catch sight of a young woman, dressed in a black trench coat and black pair of pants. Joyan. Holy shit. What the hell is she doing here. Her eyes meet mine and widen. Crap I have to get out of here before she wander over to us. I get up from the bench taking hold of Delly's hand, I rip her from her seat harder than I actually meant to. She starts to protest but I'm dragging us down the streets of the capitol, trying my hardest to flag down a taxi.

"Gale, What?"

"Nothing" I say and continue pulling.

"I want to sit, we have been walking all day"

I was just about to protest when the young, familiar girl with dark hair and dark eyes somehow managed to get ahead of us. She now stood in front of Delly and I, Her dark eyes light up with excitement as she caught sight of me, but quickly vanishes as she caught sight of Delly and I's linked hands. Joyan Jurision. The woman from two, my co-worker, my friend, the woman I slept with a got pregnant was standing right in front of me. Her eyes narrowing at Delly and I's linked hands.

"Is that you Gale?" She asked examining every inch of me. As if she didn't know I only left a couple of months ago. Her smile turns into a twisted girl and she chuckles. "Course its you, nobody has that birth mark on the side of your neck. I was shocked that she even seen that, it was so light and barely visible. Sometimes I forget I have something there. She moves forward slightly and places her cool hand on the side of my neck. I look over at Delly. Her eyes are boring into the back of Joyan's head and for a split second I think she is going to banish this woman in the back of the head with her fists. I take a step back, causing Joyan's cool hand to drop from my neck. Delly unlaced our fingers and pulled her hand out of my as I moved. I don't know if she was worried about this or if she was mad. I doubt she was mad though. She had no right to be anyway. Who cares if someone from my past just suddenly shows up unexpected. That seems to be happening to everyone lately.

"Oh my Gale, Still as handsome as always." Joyan complements. Delly shifts uncomfortably from her words, but only I catch on to her discomfort. "When are you coming home to 2 or are still still pining over that piece of trash from 12" I frown at her and glare daggers in her direction. I forgot how much of a bitch she can be. Suddenly images from my past flash before my eyes, her telling me she is pregnant, her going into labor and losing the baby. She said it was all my fault, she kicked and screamed like a child, called me dirty names. She even punched me hard in the cheek, leaving a mark. That was when I packed up and left her, ignoring her confessions of love. Something she said did stand out though as I left district 2 and that was her words that state she would destroy my life and all my happiness just like I had done to her. I didn't take her threat seriously because at the time nothing in my life was happy, I never felt a shred of happiness since the war. I did however feel a tiny bit happy when she told me she was pregnant, but that happiness was crushed as Jace came out as a stillborn.

Joyan reaches out to touch me again and thats when I open my mouth. "Joyan, this is my girlfriend, Delly" Her hand freezes and she stares hard at Delly and then after a long couple of seconds begins to laugh.

"Your not serious?" She snorts.

"Yes, I am. She is my girlfriend."

"So is this the trash you left me for or is she your new conquest?" She turns to Delly and gaze at her up and down. "Did you have sex with him yet? If you did you won't last much longer. He loves them and leaves them, but you" She laughs and moves towards Delly and before I can stop her, she is behind Delly and gently creases her blonde hair. "Your not pretty at all. Too skinny, breasts are too small and I don't know if you realize this but you have no ass."

I rip Delly away from her and point a threatening index finger at her. "Do not talk to my girlfriend like that. I'm happy to have run into you, to see your obviously doing well after our situation. I also see you have not changed, that your still the biggest bitch I have ever met."

She only laughs."Gale, your best friend was pretty okay I admit that, but that's who you left me for, not some fake Barbie that came out of a trash can"

"Shut your mouth, Joyan and crawl back to district 2 with all the other whores you live with" I snap. "You liked those whores, especially me I remember how well you fucked me. I miss it Gale." As soon as those words were out of Joyan's mouth; Delly took off down the sidewalk in search for a cab that would take her back to the defense building. "Little girl can't handle the thought of her man actually fucking a woman and not a school girl. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO PLEASURE HIM" Joyan shouts after Delly with a laugh.

"I never want to see your face again, you hear me" I growl and take off in the direction of Del. I sprint to catch up to her and grab her by the arm, forcing her to stop walking away from me.

"Please don't be mad at me. It was awhile ago, before I met you, before I even came back to district 12."

"I'm not mad, Gale. I just can't stand to hear those things she says."

"I'm sorry" I apologize.

"It's not your fault."

We stand there in awkward silence. Then I wrap my arms around her waist and crush her gently against my warm chest. I kiss the top of her head, hearing her let out a deep, relieved sigh. I move from the top of her head, to her forehead, to her cheek, lips and then ear. My lips linger at her ear. "Your beautiful, I love your long blonde hair" I run my fingers through her silky hair. "I love your eyes." I kiss her lids. I get a smile out of her as I do that. "Your weight is just right" I say running my hands across her stomach and rubbing her there as if she were pregnant. "And your breasts are perfect" I start running my hands back up her body, but just as I was about to cup her breast she grabs both my hands and stops me.

"We're in public" She blushes.

"And?" I say and dip down so I can kiss her neck and gently and sneak cup one of her breast, earning a gasp from her.

"Gale Hawthorne." She scolds. "We're in public."

"I don't see anyone watching" I say glancing around.

"Behave" She slaps my shoulder gently.

We make it back to the defense building, our run-in with Joyan completely forgotten and good I wanted to forget everything about that bitch. She had no right insult my girlfriend to my face and brining up our past. Joyan and my past was something I was desperate to forget. I hate her and want nothing more to do with her and same goes for her too. She hates me because I had sex with her, got her pregnant and then left her. She also blamed me for Jace's death. Which was far from my fault, things like miscarriages' happen. It's just apart of life and there is nothing we can do about it.

As soon as the door to our room closes I grab Delly around the waist and gently back her up against the wall, placing both of my hands on either side of her head. I study her for a couple of seconds trying to determine is she was angry with what happen or if she is just okay in general. She opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off by crashing my lips against hers and driving her into a deep and passionate kiss. She guides her fingers through my hair, grabbing and pulling at it as I deepen the kiss.

We break away for air and my lips go for her neck. "I love you, Gale"

"Love you too." I mutter against her neck.

She lets out a loud gasp as I nip and suck at her neck. I feel her start to shake and tremble, shrugging to stay standing on her own two feet. I take care of that by grabbing hold of both her thighs and hoist her up into my arms. She gasp at my actions and wraps her legs around my waist and arms around my neck, hanging on for dear life. We are gasping an panting between every kiss and its not long before her fingers find the button of my shirt and she rips it from my body.

"Bedroom" She pants as she struggles to fling my shirt to the ground. I move her from the wall as fast as I can and focus in taking us to the bedroom. She is gasping, moaning and placing kisses on my neck, shoulders and lips, her hands are digging into my shoulder blades and this just turns me on even more. The sound of our puckering lips fills the air. Her arms unravel from my neck and go to my buckle. I have to balance her weight carefully. She takes my belt off and it lands on the floor with a loud clatter.

I kick open the door and throw her on the bed like a rag doll. She squeals and it almost sounds like I have scared her. I forgot I have to be gentle with this type of thing. I'm still not sure of her what she is feeling when we become one. I stop, looking down at her making sure I haven't scared her or anything. The laugh that escape after her squeal is a sign I haven't scared her, so I continue my assault. I kiss her anywhere and everywhere; lips, cheek, neck, chest, everywhere. It not long before she is moaning my name, telling me how much she loves me, how she will die if I quit making love to her now.

Afterwards, when we are both spent, the sheet is wrapped around us and I graze her bare arm and stare up at the small dots on the ceiling. She sighs happily and traces circles on my bare chest.

"Are you okay?" I ask, making sure doing this with me isn't brining back any unwanted memories.

"I'm fine" She assures me.

"I'm not hurting you am I?" I ask.

"No."

"Am I going to fast?"

"No" She groans out.

"Am I being gentle enough?"

"Gale," She leans up and kisses me on the lips. "It's perfect, your perfect, its amazing. more amazing then I ever thought it could be. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not a gentle man, Del. I go on instinct. I just...I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to get scared in the middle of it. I don't want you to look up at me while we are having sex and see him."

"Your not hurting me, Gale. Nothing you are doing to me would remind me of him. He never creased the sides of my head, or kissed me like his life depended on it. It was forced, everything he did to me was forced. Your not doing anything like him. I love you"

I kiss her on the lips. "I love you"

"Get some sleep" She ordered.

"Yes ma'am" I chuckle.

We settle down in the covers and soon sleep finds us. I dream that night of Delly dressed in a long white wedding dress heading down a long white aisle towards me. She is smiling, her hands are holding white roses and there are awes coming from the crowd. They are admiring how beautiful Delly is. I look to my best man and Katniss smiles widely at me, mouthing go get her. I turn my back to the bride for a couple of seconds, the figure dressed in white comes to a stop next to me and I look to my left expecting to see the love of my life Delly, but instead I find myself face to face with the nasty, evil face of Joyan. She has blood all over her white dress, there is a knife in her hand and a devious grin on her face.

"Your mine nobody else"

"Where is Delly?" I shout.

"That little bitch messed with what's mine" Joyan hissed.

"WHERE IS SHE" The crowd has disappeared and nobody is here except for Joyan and me. I grab Joyan by the jaw, she smirks and points down the aisle towards a body laying at the end of the aisle. Delly. Joyan laughs and licks the blood off the knife. I crouch down, holding my hands against my ears yelling, screaming, crying, begging god to bring Delly back. I shout No over and over again until finally I'm staring up at the ceiling. I sit up in bed quickly, my movements most of woken Delly because she sits up in bed too.

"Gale?" She touches my shoulder and her touch is so soothing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, a nightmare" Seems to be happening a lot, just call the capitol; a place of nightmares and horrors "I'm fine, go back to bed." I lay back down and she lays her head gently on my chest, we are still bare so she runs her hands across my chest in a comforting way. Soon she has fallen back asleep, but I can't contain my lingering thought. I have to keep Delly away from that crazy bitch from 12, the bitch that begged me to stay after our child died. I was going to stay with her after she blamed me for killing our baby. It was neither of our faults. Our baby was a stillborn, if anything it was her fault. I wasn't going to let her presence get to me, I was determine to wipe her from my memory.

To be continued...


	34. Ending of The Beginning

Hey! Hey! Last chapter I'm so excited to be starting on the third and final installment. my project is complete :) and I know it took a long time, but I couldn't have done it without your guys support and amazing Reviews. You guys are truly amazing and a big part of the story. Well please enjoy this chapter and that is it, well except for the epilogue and I will get the first chapter of the third installment out as quickly as I can, it will be shorter chapter so updates will come hopefully. I really hope the ending is not a disappointment. I couldn't think of any other way to cure someone of a hijacking lol. Please enjoy. PS. I have deleted my Turn back the HG story; Haymitch's story I feel it can be so much better than what it was. I still intend to write something like that if you guys will read and review on it. Enjoy this finally chapter and the epilogue.

Chapter 34

Ending of The Beginning

My palms are shaking, my knees are weak. I am pacing back and fourth across the beautiful white titles, god I can't think or breath. I pace back and fourth with my hands behind my back. My friends are all sitting in the maroon chairs. Gale, Haymitch, Effie, Delly and Hass are all there for me. They all watch me pace back and fourth until finally Gale had enough. He rose from his seat, gripped me by the upper-arms, stopping my moments, and then made me take a seat on one of the maroon colored chairs. I can't stand not knowing what is going on in that hospital room. I know its only been a couple of minutes since Peeta went into surgery, but it feels more like hours and hours I hate it. Nobody says anything, all of us sit there in an uncomfortable silence and I have an urge to get up and walk around, but I know Gale won't let me. So instead I start tapping my foot against the ground and taking deep breaths.

Every once in awhile I would tilt my head up and pray to god that he is going to make it through this. Every time a nurse comes into my view I sit upright in the chair, alerted, ready for the worse news possible. I am expecting bad news I guess. My whole life consists of bad-luck and bad news. This is the day I have been dreading for the past 3 days. I am thankful that Haymitch and Effie took the time to track this doctor down while Peeta and I were dealing with Wadera, but if this doctor does one tiny thing wrong that means the end of Peeta's life and it might as well be the end of mine too. If something happens to him today I will go into a deep depression, one nobody can get me out of. I will not lose the love of my life and continue on with mine. There is just no place in the world for me if he isn't here. I will live long enough to give birth to my baby and then after she is out and into the world I will lose the will to live. She would be better off without me anyway. A shell of a mother; that's what she will have if her father does not make it out. I will be useless to her and far from being able to take care of her. She will have another loving family to take care of her if it comes down to it.

I pat my stomach gently, without anyone seeing and take quick glances at my friends. Effie and Haymitch are deep in a whispered conversation across from me. I can't understand what they are talking about, but I could of sworn I heard the words: take, care, if, passes. I bite my lip hard and gently tune them out, not wanting to know their opinion of this surgery. I begin to wonder if this doctor was safe enough, professional enough to take care of cases like Peetas'. They already said that hijacking had no cure, that the memories indented into the victims brain was permitted. I don't understand any of it and it frustrates me. All Peeta wants is to stop being so violent when he falls into these episodes. He doesn't care that he flashes back, he fights them. He just doesn't want to be abusive anymore. They are taking the lingering venom out of his brain that much I know and I also know it is a very serious thing to do, that the chances for survival are slim to none.

We sit and sit and sit for hours. Delly and Gale get up to wander, they link hands and leave the waiting room. Haymitch says he needs to find a drink and Effie says she needs to make a couple phone calls. Hass and I are the only ones left. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a stone-cold look on his face. I began to wonder if he got his 'situation' under control.

"Are you okay, kitty?" Hass asks taking a seat next to me.

"I"m fine" I assure him.

"Peeta is strong and he loves you. He'll make it."

"Why haven't we heard anything yet? It's been 5 hours"

"Kitty, you got to breathe and be patient okay?" Hass says placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. I bury my head in my hands and give him a small, forced nod. I can't do this. I can't sit around here and wait for those nurses and doctors. I have to see him, have to touch him one last time before he dies on me. I get up from the maroon chairs and bolt towards the front desk. The secretary is looking at me like I have lost my mind. No big surprise there, everyone looks at me like I have lost my mind and who knows maybe they are right. I have been crying so much since I got here; it is surprising I still have my sanity. Or maybe thats gone.

"Can I help you?" She asks kindly.

"Peeta Mellark, is he still in surgery?" I ask in a state of panic.

"One second ma'am." She scoops up the phone and places it against her ear, punching in a few number. She sits there in silence waiting for someone to answer. When they do answer all she has to say is 'Peeta Mellark'. She is quiet, nodding her head multiple as the person on the other end speaks to her. "Okay thank you" She says and hangs up the phone. She looks up at me and I can't read the expression on her face. "He is still in surgery, Ma'am"

I nod my head, thank her and walk back to my seat where I rebury my head in my hands. Hass rubs my shoulders in comfort and I'm surprised at how amazingly good it feels. I lean my head on his shoulder and whisper in his ear. "Did you fix things with Naomi and the secretary"

"No, Naomi will never forgive me and the secretary slapped me across the face for using her. I feel terrible about it and as god as my witness I will never drink another drop of alcohol as long as I live"

"Naomi loves you, she just won't admit it."

"I know she does. I love her too, Always have, always will"

"Good, now fix it, get your woman and we can all get out of this place and I want to hear you say it out loud, No more booze"

"I promise I will never drink another drop of alcohol as long as I live. Scouts honor"

"I wont promise that" Haymitch reappears from wherever him and Effie ran off to. There is a big smile on his face as he hears the word Alcohol spew from Hass's mouth. "I tried to give my beloved up to please my ex-girlfriend, but since she broke up with me I decided to go back on the delicious little devil."

"Avara broke up with you?" I asked curiously.

He nods his head. "A long time ago, thats okay I'm not really upset about it. We decided it was best."

I look at him as if he is being unbelievable. "I don't want you to be alone, old man" I say.

"I'm not alone, sweetheart. I have you and the boy and this really attractive Fellow I don't know yet" He says slapping Hass on the shoulder, "I got those two" He points to Delly and Gale as they come around the corner hand and hand, back from their walk. "Even though they disturb my sleep last night" Haymitch chuckles.

"What do you mean we disturb your sleep?" Gale asks taking a seat next to Haymitch.

"Nothing I don't want to embarrass you, anyway" Haymitch looks around at all of us, "I'm never alone because I have you people and you guys are my family and I..." He makes a face and bites his lip. Hard. "I love you guys and if any of you ever repeats that there will be serious consequences. I'll chop off your guys balls" He says pointing to Hass and Gale. "I'll lock you in my basement and make you clean" He says pointing to Delly, "No sex for you, Effie if you repeat it." Everyone's mouth drops and we all let out an 'Eww' at the same time. "And you sweetheart" Haymitch shakes a finger at me, but lets it drop. "I'm a bit afraid of you" We all laugh at this and I just roll my eyes at him.

I take a good look at the people around me and nothing but love fills my body. They are my family, they are here for me and I am truly grateful to have them in my life. I love them: Gale, Delly, Hass, Haymitch,and Effie. I love them. My mind goes to Peeta. I'm in love with him and nothing will ever change that. I think about the bread; how he tossed me it and saved my life. I think about how he annouced to the whole world that he was in love with me. I think about our first kiss in the cave and the beach, How he came back to me after the war even though the odds weren't in his favor. I think about our first time making love, his body pressed against mine, his words, his kisses as he thrust in and out of me at a gentle pace. I can't imagine my life without him. I love him so much.

I stand up from the chair as I see the nurse come waddling towards us. She is a heavy set woman with curly dark hair and big thick glasses. She comes over towards us with a look of sorrow on her face. My heart drops and I begin to shake. She stops in front of us and folds her hands gently in front of her. Something bad is coming I can feel it. I brace myself for what is coming next.

"Are you waiting for the surgery patient?" She asks calmly.

I nod my head completely terrified.

"I'm sorry to have informed you he has passed"

I drop to my knees and began wailing in front of my family, in front of the nurse, in front of the entire waiting room. I shake my head multiple times. This can't be happening he can't be dead. He promised me. He'd be there. Always, Always, Always. A strong pair of arms lift me up and cradle me against their strong chest. Gale. I cry and cry and cry, soaking his shirt and screaming out every foul thing at god I can think of. Gale holds me tightly against his strong chest preventing me from going anywhere. I can't breathe, I can't think. All I can do is cry.

"Get her out of here while I talk to the nurse" Haymitch mutters to Gale.

Gale nods and begins leading me away from the nurse and our group of people. I push him away and bolt towards the nurse's side. "I want to see him" I yell at her.

"I know your upset Miss..."

"I WANT TO SEE HIS BODY!"

"Please calm down Mrs. Malmark." She says calmly.

"Who the hell is Mrs. Malmark" I shout, tears streaming out of my eyes.

The nurse looks at me in confusion. "Aren't you Debra Malmark?"

"NO" I snap and cry.

She flips through the folder she had been carrying and scans it contents. "I was supposed to inform the family of Peter Melmark that he has passed at age 61 due to heart complications from the surgery"

"This is Katniss Everdeen you fucking idiot" Gale yells at her. He sets me down on the chair and wipes my tears away before standing in front of the chubby nurse again. "Her Fiancè is Peeta Mellark, he is undergoing brain surgery"

She flips through the folder in a hurry. "Oh my god I'm so sorry. I got the names mixed up. Peeta Mellark is having brain surgery correct?"

"Duh, you old bat" Haymitch sneers.

"My apologies" The nurse apologizes.

"You damn well better be sorry. Learn how to read a fucking piece of paper" Gale hisses.

The nurse scurries off and my tears starts to dwindle. I truly almost had a heart-attack from the nurses news. She was lucky I was too broken and upset when she told me a surgery patient died. Thank god, thank god it wasn't Peeta, but my heart goes out to the family that lost their loved one. My tears finally subside and I look up at my family; all of them have foul looks on their faces. I am so glad they care about me and Peeta, enough for them to snap out of that poor nurse. I can't say she deserved it; it was a mistake after all. Human beings are allowed to make mistakes.

"I'm reporting that bitch" Gale hisses.

"Gale, Language please" Delly says running a hand through Gale's hair as he sits on the maroon chair.

Gale rolls his eyes. "That idiot nurse got her all upset, crying, thinking Peeta fucking died on that table and here she can't even read a fucking name on a sheet of paper. She is an idiot, telling us a surgery patient has died. Give us a name you old hag before you start telling people they are dead"

"It was an accident, Gale" I sniffle.

"I don't care."

"People make mistakes, honey" Delly says.

Gale mumbles something I don't catch and sits back and his chair mumbling and grumbling how she should be careful and professional when she tells people that sort of thing. I guess in a way he is right, but in a way Delly and I are right too. People make mistakes.

We spend another two hours waiting. I am more nervous than I was a couple hours ago. Finally after 6 hours total a doctor come strolling into the waiting room. There are dark circles under his eyes indicating that he is exhausted from the surgery and he would like nothing more than to go home to his wife and kids no doubt. The doctor looks to be in his late 20s maybe late 30s, he has natural, curly dark hair which is sticking up in every direction and he is wearing a long, white doctors robe. I stand up in an instant, my hands clutch together. This is it the moment I have been waiting for all day. This guy knows who we are; he is here to tell us straight up what Peeta's condition is. He's not some stupid nurse that read the wrong paper. He knows Haymitch. Haymitch went looking for a doctor like him. My hands shake as he stops in front of our group looking at every single one of us. We all wait in anticipation, anxious to hear how Peeta's surgery went.

"Mrs. Everdeen" He says taking a seat on the maroon chair next to me. He folds his hands and looks seriously at me. Oh god no...this isn't a mistake this time. I place my hand on my baby and pray to god. Please don't let him say three little words that will make me give up the will to live. It will ruin my life if he does. Before he even says anything a few tears start to escape my eyes. The doctor reaches over and wipes them away. "Miss. Everdeen, your Mr. Mellark's Fiancè correct"

"Yes." I nod.

"Okay, Miss. Everdeen. I can to inform you that Mr. Mellark is out of surgery it is done, but there was some complications"

"He's alive though?"

"Yes, he is alive and in recovery as we speak. Now, I'm not sure if this is going to work and help him with his flashbacks. But we tried to get rid of some of the bad memories by replacing them with good ones."

"You tried to hijacking him back?"

He nods. "Yes and by doing that we injected him with more venom which was bad because his heart stopped."

"Oh god" I place my hand against my mouth and the tears started flowing again. The doctor placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a loving squeeze.

"Shh, its okay, we were able to revive him before it was too late. Once we brought him back we were able to clear the lingering venom and the venom we injected him with. There is now no trace of tracker jacker venom within him, but the memories that capitol implanted still remains. We were unable to clear any of that. I am sorry. One last thing Peeta might not remember minor details about things."

"Minor details?" I ask confused.

"Like he will forget what his favorite food is, like if he did something speacial like double tie his shoes he might forget to do that or his favorite color. Those types of things. So just help him out and he should be good to go. I want to keep him for a couple of days, monitor his progress if that is okay."

I thank god over and over and over again. I fall to my knees and let out the happiest sob I could. He is going to be alright. The love of my life is cured and it was all thanks to Haymitch and Effie. They found this man while we were dealing with Wadera. They found him and he was able to help Peeta. I bolt from my kneeling position and wrap my arms around the doctors neck without any warning. He gasps in surprise at first, then chuckles, pats my back and gives me a hug back. "Thank you, Thank you so much" I whisper into his ear and release him.

"Your welcome girl" He smiles and takes a step back from me. Haymitch shakes the docs hand and so does Gale and Hass. Effie and Delly hug him. I could of sworn I heard Delly say 'thank you for taking care of my brother'. I guess Peeta is like her brother in a way. I'm so happy right now that the happy tears refuse to die.

"Can I see him?" I ask the doctor before he goes.

He turns around and nods his head. "Sure I don't see why not. He will not be awake though. I'll take you up there if you like"

"Okay"

"Sweetheart we are going to go back to our hotel room and get a couple hours of sleep before going to the presidents mansion and seeing if there is anything else she needs us to do." Haymitch says.

"Okay" I say and before he goes I walk over to him and wrap my arms around him pulling him into a large hug. He saved Peeta by hunting down this man. He pulls back and I kiss him on the cheek. He blushes, rubs the back of his head and takes Effie by the hand. Effie smiles at me places her hand on my shoulder and follows Haymitch out the hospital door. I take a moment to examine the two of them. As much as I loved Haymitch's girlfriend from 4. Avara didn't seem right for him. I think in a way its always been Effie and always will be Effie for him. I can see it in his eyes that he is happy. Truly Happy and its been a long time since he felt that way. Haymitch and Effie are long gone and when I go to turn around I am greeted by Gale and Delly who have the same idea in going home for the night and resting. I hug and kiss both of them on the cheek and watch them go as well. I'm so glad that he has finally found someone thats loves him for him.

Hass was the last one lingering in the hospital waiting room. He had no intention of leaving unless I leave. Which was sweet, he said I would need company on my way back to the defense building. What he failed to realize that I was not going back to that building. I was staying here; at the hospital with Peeta, until he was well enough to be released and only then could we see if the surgery had work. Only then we can go home finally and live in peace. I can have my baby at home and Peeta and I can raise her peacefully.

"You gonna be alright, Kitty?" Hass asked.

"Yes" I nod.

"If you need anything just tell me and I will be over here so fast"

"Thank you" I say as he pulls me into a large hug. "For everything."

"No problem, kitty" He pulls back from the hug and smiles gently at me, tucking a strand of black hair behind my ear. He kisses my forehead and was about to take off but I grabbed his hand forcing his movements to come to a stop. I kissed his forehead in return and place my lips at his ears and said. "Don't let her get away.". Hass merely smiles, hugs me tighter and then takes off towards the door and vanishes from my sight. I turn to the doctor that saved Peeta's life. He is still waiting to lead me to Peeta's room. I go over to him and follow him to the elevator, down a long hall and up a small flight of stairs. He opens a room door for me and I quietly go in.

Peeta is laying on the hospital bed as still as a statue. They have him hooked up to a machine that is gently filling the room with a beeping noise. I move across the room and take a seat next to his bed. There is a tube in his mouth that is helping him breath and I don't know why it is needed. I take his limp hand into mine and lace our fingers. I wanted him so badly to wake up and hold my hand back, but he just lay there as still as a statue. I take my free hand and run it over his smooth scalp. They had to cut his hair for this. I was so gentle not to touch the heavy bandages that surrounded his head. I lean over and kiss his still lips.

"I'll leave it to you then" the doctor says and gently closes the door behind him.

I kiss his still lips again and gently lean over far enough to lay my head gently against his chest. His heart is beating and its a sign of relief. I know he is still in there. He will wake up and come back to me sooner or later. I only have limited time with him so I do the only thing I can think of; I start to talk to him.

"Hey, Baby" I bring his limb hand up to my lips and kiss his knuckles. "We did it,We found you help. Well, Haymitch found you help. I think we should go buy him his very own liquor store for that one." I hated that I was unable to hear his gentle, deep voice. All he did was lay there, but I continued talking "I love you,baby and I can't wait to marry you" I kiss his lips again, "Our baby is going to be born in a happy world and your going to be there everyday to watch her grow-up into a beautiful human being like yourself." I tighten my grip on his hand. "Peeta, please wake up. I need to see your beautiful eyes, hear your wonderful voice. I need you" He didn't wake up though and I didn't expect him to until the medicine wore off.

Somewhere during my visit I laid my head on his chest and fell into a deep and peaceful sleep. I woke to shaky fingers running themselves through my hair. I lift my head off his chest and gaze into his blue, tired eyes. He smiles at me weakly.

"Hi" I say happily and tears are threatening to spill from my gray orbs.

"Hi" He greets weakly.

"Oh, Peeta." I lean forward and pull him into a deep and passionate kiss. "I love you, baby" I say and deepen the kiss, but not by much. I don't want to hurt him. "God I love you so much" I mutter in between our lips. Our lips part and I rest my head on his forehead. "How do you feel?" I ask him.

"My head hurts so badly" He replies. "But other than that I'm great. I"m ready to go home and marry you. I"m ready for our baby and I"m ready to spend the rest of my life with you." He goes to sit up to kiss me but I place my hand on his chest stopping him from doing so.

"Relax" I mutter and gently push his down.

He obeys me and lays down, relaxing the best he could. Our hands are still laced together and every once in awhile I will lean down to kiss him. His blue eyes are locked on me, they refuse to look anywhere else. I only smile and crease his cheek. I wish I could run my hands through his hair, but he has none at the moment and I miss it. I am furious they cut his hair, it is down the the scalp and he is practically bald. His hair will grow back though and when it does, I will rub my fingers through it, grab at it when we are making love and cherish it.

After a moment of silence Peeta opens his mouth and says, "You think it will work?"

"I hope so" I say and kiss him gently. "Because if it don't we are not doing this again, we are not coming back to this city. I will defend myself when you have a episode."

"You can't defend yourself when you start to show" He says.

"I think of something, but right now I got a good feeling that the doctor did it, that he helped you, helped us. We are done here, Peeta. No more wars, violence, no more being used to lure out criminals, nothing. I am going to go home with you, marry you and get prepared to have this baby." I take his hand gently and guide it to my stomach, "That's your baby in there and she needs you so much and I need you. I never thought I would ever need someone so much. I was so scared, Peeta. So, so, so scared and when the nurse told me you were dead, I just...I wanted to die to."

Peeta's lips curl into a frown. "A nurse said I was dead?"

"Yeah" I say wiping the stray tears out of my eyes. "She made a mistake though, it was some other guy that was having heart surgery that passed, but she got the names mixed up." I really look at him and the thought of not being without him kills me. "I want us to die together, old in our bed. I wanna die in your arms, I want to gaze upon your beautiful blue eyes when I leave this world" He leans up even though I told him to relax, he gently pull the back of my head down so his lips meet mine for a couple of seconds.

"I love you, Katniss."

"I love you too, Peeta" We kiss again and this on is the most passionate kiss we have ever shared in our entire life and I know if it wasn't for his injury and the pain he is in that he would pull me on top of his chest and press his body against mine, hard. I know he is in pain So I had to be gentle when I climbed into bed with him and snuggled at his side. It was a tight squeeze but I managed. He wraps one tired arm around me and I drape one across his chest.

"Stay with me" I mutter into his chest.

"Always."

"Always."

We were done here for good, never again would we have to come to a place that reminds us of so much violence and pain. The capitol will remain in our memories, we will never again look upon the tall, shiny buildings that glister in the sunlight, never again see the exotic people walking down the streets. Paylor gave us permission to go home, our contract in the defense building was voided. We did our job, Wadera was dead and he obviously wasn't coming back, they have tightened defense around the capitol and around the district so something like that can't ever happen again, but that won't stop the thoughts going through certain people's heads. I know there are monsters out there that would love to see Panem fall, but those monsters are no longer Peeta and I's problem. We want to live a life of peace and it looks like after everything we have been through in the last couple of years we will finally get our wish for real this time.

I will be marrying him in about month or so and I will never regret my choice in caring deeply for him. A lot has happen in the short few months Peeta and I have been in the capitol. We lost a lot of good man in our quest to stop Wadera, but there deaths will not be in vain. They all died heroes. Their names are on the big black wall in the capitol square next to the fallen Tributes and soldiers. Rend even found a spot on that wall, I may have only met him and talked to him for a short time, but in that short time I came to realize he was a fierce warrior and a wonderful man. He loved Johanna with all his heart and would of gladly died for her, but he died protecting us all. Johanna has disappeared, she will show up one of these days, but for now is best to let her morn in peace. If I know Johanna she will be back and more hyper than ever, acting like nothing ever happened. She has a funny way of dealing with pain.

It is late in the afternoon when we finally have all of our things packed and ready to go. Peeta is wearing a wool hat to cover his shaved head. He hates not having hair and can't wait for it to grow back. It took a couple of days but the doctors released him on day 4 assuring us he was good to go. He warned Peeta that he will be receiving massive head-ache for awhile, just to take pain meds for that. Peeta had thanked the doctor multiple times telling him over and over again how grateful he was that the doctor was able to get rid of the lingering venom that has been in his brain since the capitol tortured him. The doctor said nothing was 100%, that there could be a chance that the surgery did not work. Only time will tell on that subjected.

Our bags were packed and we say goodbye to commander Creft who is now in charge of the defense building. We walk outside in the late afternoon, ready to leave this foul place once and for all. Peeta threads our fingers together and leads me to the car that was waiting to take me to the train station. We were about to slide into the back ,but Hass suddenly appears at the bottom of the stairs of the defense building.

I stare at him, confused as to why he has no bags in his hands. Isn't he coming home with us? To district 12? I unlace Peeta and I's linked hands, ignoring his protests. Once Peeta sees me head towards Hass he quiets down and slinks into the back seat of the car.

I'm soon face to face with my the man that saved my life, my body and soul, the man I have come to know (well there were still things I didn't know about him.) and love, my good friend.

"Where are your bags?" I ask quietly.

"I'm not going back, Kitty" He says quietly.

"What? Why?" I ask a hint of hurt spreading across my face.

"I got things to do here first. People to see in four, relationships to patch up. I will not be returning to 12" He says.

"Really? Never?" I ask biting my lip and keeping the tears back, this might as well be the last time I ever see him. He is staying here, in this horrible place. A place Peeta and I will never come back to. I stare at him long and hard, trying to memorize every detail of his face. I was losing a good friend and that was not okay with me.

"Kitty, Don't cry. District 12 is not my place. I went there for Paylor, accomplished my mission, befriended a wonderful human being, a fierce warrior and a good bride-to-be. You have a heart of gold Katniss Everdeen and I am happy that I had the chance to meet you, to spend time with you, to fight with you and to laugh with you. I will always remember the strong, brave warrior from District 12. The warrior that saved thousands from a madman. Twice." My gray orbs met his and thats all it took for the tears to start running down my face. I'm not sure if they were happy tears or Sad ones. All I know the thought of never seeing my friend again pains me.

He moves forward and gives me the biggest, most friendliest hug he could ever possibly give someone. I return it and hug him back hard. "I'll see you whenever then."

He pulls back to look at me. "Whenever"

"Before I go You got to promise me something"

"Anything."

"Take care of Annie and Fin. Go to district 4, tell them about Finnick and you, your the only family she has left."

"I plan on it."

I hear a large roar of an engine and I know my time with Hass has come to an end. I hug him one last time before he pulls back and leads me to The car. He opens the door and I slide in. Hass leans his body halfway inside the car and offers his hand to Peeta. Peeta takes it and the two of them gently shake hands.

"Take care of that woman" He tells Peeta, "And yourself."

"I plan on it."

"Good." He turns his attention to me and places a gentle peck on my forehead. "I'll see you, kitty"

"Take care of yourself, Hass"

He smiles gently at me and shuts the door. I stare out the window, watching him back up away from the car so the driver can take off. When the car starts moving I raise a hand and wave goodbye to a man that I most likely will never see again. He waves back and its not long before he vanishes from my sight. I glance over at Peeta, his blue orbs are boring into my eyes, asking me if I'm alright.

"I'm fine."

He scoots over so he can wrap his arms around me. I lean my head against his chest and inhale his fresh baker scent. He must of baked this morning before I even rose from the bed. I can't believe this was finally over, I can't believe at the last second we were able to help him find a cure. Who would of thought no source of medicine out there was able to cure and rid a person of tracker jacker venom. Who would of thought Haymitch and Effie would be the ones to track the guy down for us. We really did have the best family in the world. I love every single one of them. I snuggle deeper into his chest and place a quick kiss at his Adam's apple.

"I love you" I tell him for the thousandth time this month.

"I love you too."

"Marry me"

"Okay" He smiles and connects our lips.

Haymitch, Effie, Gale and Delly are all waiting for us at the train station. Peeta grabs our bags and hands them to the train attendant who carries them off into the unknown. I Examine my family. Gale and Delly are smiling at Peeta and I waiting for us to board the train and go home, Gale has his arms engulfed around Delly and she is leaning against his chest as he gently rocks her and kisses her cheek. Haymitch and Effie are there holding hands and she rest her head on his shoulder. My family, my friends, the people that took the time out of their lives to help Peeta and I when they didn't have too.

We move into the private train and I take a seat on the comfortable bed in our room. I turn to the capitol and take one last look at the beautiful but deadly city. The city I will never step foot in again. The city that brought Peeta and I together in a cruel and unimaginable way. I think about everything that has happened in that city. Arriving for the first time and having all the people wave and cheer as we exited the train. I think about the training room (which is now the defense building) and all the tributes that have trained there. The interviews, the chariot rides, Peeta's confession to the entire nation, The bombing of capitol square, fallen soldiers. I turn my back on all of it and face my future. Peeta. He is stilling on the opposite side on the bed fiddling with his hat.

As I look at him it all becomes clear, I'm supposed to put the war and violence behind me, supposed to move on and be happy, thats why fate brought us together; to live in a free world. The rain of terror is finally over and everyone in Panem can now rest and live to see another day.

I lay down and shift my body so I'm facing Peeta. He sees this and lays down with me. We both are on our sides facing each other. I scoot in so I"m hooked into his arms. I kiss him so hard that it takes him by surprise.

"It's over then, I mean really over?" He ask as if he is unsure of what fate has in store for us next.

"Yes, I have a feeling it is."

"What if they want us to come back?"

"We'll tell them no" I smile and kiss him again. "After all..." I grab his hands and place them on my flat stomach. "We are going to be parents and I'm going to be a bride"

I have never seen him smile that big, but he does and afterwards he leans forward and claims my lips. "Mrs. Mellark, I believe our journey together is far from over."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we have to be prepare for the greatest battle yet, the greatest challenge we have ever faced"

"And what would that be, Mr. Mellark?"

"A baby"

The end.


	35. EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

My heart is beating fast, I'm scared, really, really scared. My mother watches me from the bed, I pace back and fourth my long white dress following my movements. I don't think I have ever been this scared in my entire life, Except maybe when the baby kicked for the first time. I place my hand against my baby bump that was poking out of my dress. Sometimes when I'm really stressed out about something placing my hand on top of my son really soothes me. Peeta and I are having a boy which shocked the hell out of me because I was so convinced it was a girl. I have had dreams about it at night, about a little girl smiling and offering me beautiful flowers. It was a shocking day when Peeta and I went to the doctor in district 12 and got the ultra sound. The doctor wanted to know if we wanted to find out what we were having, Peeta jumped at that offer and said yes before I even had a chance to open my mouth. When they doctor told me it was a boy I was somewhat disappointed considering the fact that I had bought 200 dollars worth of girl clothes. Peeta found this hilarious that I would just assume the baby was a girl. We had to take all those clothes back and get a full return.

We have been back in district 12 for almost 2 months now and so far everything was going good. The capitol has not yet tried to make contact with us, but it was still early yet, give them time and I'm sure they will be pounding down my doorstep wanting baby pictures. No I take that back they will probably be here today. MY WEDDING DAY, begging for pictures of the bride and groom. The star-crossed lovers that have been through so much together. I bet they will even be wanting to take a picture of my baby bump as well. Hopefully that won't happened the mayor in district 12 said I had nothing to worry about, that he'd intervene if they try and bolt for the woods. The woods that is where we are having are wedding. Most of our guests find it completely absurd that We have instructed the planners to decorate my woods. I showed them the spot where I wanted to have it and they immediately went to work not questioning me. I picked the spot where my father taught me how to swim and hunt. That place was speacial to me and it was the only place I felt truly close to my father. I wanted him to witness the day when I marry the man I love, if only in spirit.

I continue pacing back and fourth across my bedroom floor. I had 20 minutes to go, 20 minutes left of being Katniss Everdeen. In 20 minutes I will no longer be Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, the mockingjay, The war-hero everyone rant and raves about. In 20 minutes I'll be Mrs. Peeta Mellark, Wife to a baker and a good person. I'm going to be someone's wife. WIFE.

"Relax" My mother says raising from the bed and coming over to me.

"I'm fine"

"No, Your not, come here"

I ignore her and continue pacing and rambling. "Do I look okay? Does the baby show at all? Do I look fat?" My mother comes up to me and places her hand against my lips. She kisses me on the forehead quickly and fixes the strand of hair that had comes loose. She then fixes my crown and veil, those were gifts from the capitol. They arrived only a couple days ago. My mother takes a good look at me and her blue eyes start filling with tears.

"You look beautiful. I'm so proud of you, Katniss. I truly am" She gently grabs me into a hug and kisses my forehead again. "My baby is getting married. My baby is gonna be a mommy. Oh, Katniss I'm so proud"

"Thanks mom." I mutter and fiddle with my crown, even though it was from the capitol and I swore I would never have anything to do with the capitol again. The crown they sent me was incredibly beautiful. It fit my head just right and it was covered in real shinning, beautiful diamonds. I not only wore the crown, but the diamond earning that came with it and the locket Peeta had given me. It definitely didn't match my dress, crown or earrings, but I didn't care about any of that it was my wedding day and I will wear what I please. Hell, I wanted to wear my boots instead of high heels , but Effie, Octavia, Venia and Flavius all ganged up on me and put their foot down. I argued and argued telling them they had no right to tell me what to wear on my wedding day, but after hours of arguing I decided to give in.

My mother's voice breaks me out of my thoughts. "Your father would be so proud of you and so would Prim." She smiles.

"I wish they can be here today" I mutter looking down at the floor. I have the stop the tears because of my make-up. My prep team will have a fit if I ruined my make-up and I only have 15 minutes before I become Mrs. Mellark and that is no time at all to fix my make-up.

"Honey, they are here in spirit." I hug my mother again, she is gentle because of my baby bump. She pulls back from the hug and examines me one last time. "You got 15 minutes, Gale will be up here to get you in a few."

"Am I supposed to be this scared? I feel like I'm going to throw up and I know it's not the baby's fault either"

"I was scared when I married your father, but once my father took my hand and lead me down the aisle everyone and everything seemed to vanish as I got sight of the man I loved waiting for me at the alter. My fears slipped away and only him and I mattered."

"What if I"m not a good wife?"

"Honey, you will be. You love Peeta and Peeta loves you; both of you will be good to each other and..." Her eyes cast down to my baby bump, "You will be the best mother this baby will ever have."

I wrap my arms around my child and feel the small movements below. He is up and moving around. I can feel his gentle kicks against my stomach. There are nervous knots in my stomach and I soon begin hyperventilating at the thought of becoming somebody's mother and someone's wife. Two things I swore I'd never do. My mother gently takes me by the shoulders and pushes me on the bed. My breathing is still heavy and my palms are shaking so badly. I'm marrying Peeta. I'm going to be his wife and he is going to be my husband.

"Breath honey, your fine."

There is a knock on the door and it only makes my breathing go faster. My mother moves across my bedroom and cracks open the door. "Ah, Gale, Are they ready for her?"

Gale nods. "They sure are." He glances over to me. "Ready Catnip?"

I ignore him and rub my baby.

"She's nervous."

"I can tell" Gale chuckles. He walks over to the bed and offers his hand to me. I take it and he pulls me up gently. "Lets give you away" I chose for him to walk me down the aisle because Gale was my best friend, my brother and a person I could depend on no matter what, despite his horrible attitude he had when he first came to district 12. I'm glad Gale straightened up and fell in love, I'm glad we were able to rekindle our friendship and become even closer. This was a start of a beautiful future and after everything we have been through I'd say we deserve it.

I feel my mothers soft hand at my bare back and the next thing I know I'm being lead outside in the cool spring air. It is beautiful and warm outside. It is the middle of spring and everything has blossomed. Gale leads me through district 12 and into the meadow. I don't have to duck under the fence or anything because the Mayor of district 12 has removed a good chunk of the fence out of our way, so our guests can get into the meadow and get to my father's speacial place. I had debated weather or not I wanted people to know about the beautiful pond in the woods. If I have my wedding there all of district 12 would discover the beauty of the pond and I would feel like it was no longer My father and I's secret area, but after discussing it with Peeta and really thinking about it I decided thats were I wanted to marry him.

Gale hung onto me, making sure I didn't trip and fall on my face. The designers and decorators made a smooth path that would eventually lead to my fathers pond. I was excited to see what they have done with the place.

I decided to loosen my tension a bit by starting a conversation with Gale. "You'll be doing this soon"

He chuckles. "Uh...I think Del would flip if I asked her to marry me, besides we're not there yet."

"You will be" I giggle.

"yeah, hopefully, but I want to make sure she is completely right for me and I for her. It's good so far though"

we chatted for a couple of minutes before Gale stops and smiles. He gazes around the forest and so do I. The sight in front of me is simply amazing. There are so many decorations all over the place, mostly flowers though. There a chairs lined up everywhere and every one of those chairs are taken. The aisle is covered in flowers and a thin white rug is laid down on the forest floor. The rug stretch all the way to the pond. I look towards the pond and there is a huge white arch that is glistering in the sunlight, under that arch is Peeta. He has his back to me, everyone does, nobody has seen Gale or I yet. Peeta is dressed in a very expensive tuxedo, his blonde hair is slicked back like it was during our interviews of the first game. He has his hands tucked neatly behind his back and it would appear he is gazing out into the pond, so very deep in thought.

"You ready?" Gale whispers in my ear.

"Yes" I say staring at Peeta.

Gale singles a woman and slow music starts to fill the forest air. Everyone in the vicinity stands up from their chairs and looks at me. I feel nervous again so I cast my eyes down at the ground beneath my high heels. Gale lowers my veil and gives me a safe warm smile. Then he offers me his arm and I loop mine around his. He starts walking me down the long white rug and I swear it is the longest walk of my entire life. As I walk down the aisle towards my future I gaze at every single person in the audience starting with my mother, there are tears in her eyes and as our eyes locked she mouths 'I'm proud of you', Haymitch sits next to her followed by Effie. I pass by all my friends and family, My mother, Haymitch Effie, Vick, Rory, Posy, Delly. I pass by Dr. Aurelius who just smiles at me and gives me a small wave. My whole prep team, Johanna Mason who has seemed to finally come out of hiding. I was glad she healed. I passed by Annie an Little Fin and next to them was Hass. My smile grew so wide when I saw him that I almost had half a mind to stop, but I didn't. I mouthed 'I missed you' to him and continued my journey.

We stopped at the alter, Peeta and I lock eyes for the first time in the last 24 hours. Gale takes my hand and gives it to him. Peeta gladly takes my hand and we turn to face each other, waiting for the preacher to begin. Peeta takes my veil and lifts it back over my head. His hands stay on my cheek and he gently leans in to kiss me, even though it isn't time yet. It's only a peck though and there is a 'awe" coming from the crowd.

The preacher straightens his tie, opens a book and then begins. People took their seats and immediately became quiet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and family were are presented here today to witness the union of these two people, brought together by god. Two people that have survived the toughest of challenges, two people who will be remember throughout history. We are here to celebrate, to support the union of these two people, Peeta Joshua Mellark and Katniss Rose Everdeen, as they pledge their love and bind themselves to each other. " The Preacher turns to Peeta with a smile on his face. "This woman by your side is going to be your wife. Do you swear to comfort her, to protect her, support her, love her, for richer or poor, for better or worse, until death due you part?"

Peeta turns to me, his grip on my hands have tightened. "I promise in front of my friends, my family, that I will comfort you, protect you, support you, love you, in good times and in bad, for the rest of my life. I will cherish you until the day I die" I smile at him, fighting back the urge to cry, His words are so sincere.

The preacher turns to me. "This man by your side is going to be your husband. Do you swear to comfort him, protect him, support him, love him, for richer or poor, for better or worse, until death do you part?"

My eyes never leave Peeta's "I promise in front of everyone here that I will comfort you, protect you, love you, cherish every moment we have, in good times and in bad, for the rest of my life. I will love you until the day I die."

"Now, The bride and Groom will now exchange vows."

Peeta takes a deep breath and begins. "Katniss rose Everdeen, since the moment I saw you, your hair in two braids instead of one, I've known that there was something speacial about you, something I couldn't put my finger on. I have loved you for a very, very long time Katniss and now today standing up here in front of everyone I get to tell everyone just how much I love you and how much you mean to me. You've always said I have been good with words, but as I stand up here today in front of you, in front of all our friends and family, I'm lost for words, the words that describe how I feel about you. My love for you goes beyond words, beyond love, it is in a category all its own. I love you and everything about you. Your a brave warrior Katniss, beautiful, smart and fierce. I promise every beat of my heart is yours, every breath I take I take its for you. Your the love of my life, The mother of my unborn child" He pauses and places a hand against my baby bump. "And now I can call you my wife. I will spend every waking moment of my life with you. I promise to be a good husband and a good father. I will always protect the both of you, I will love the both of you until I die." He finishes up and kisses me quickly.

"Now the bride" The preacher says.

"Peeta Joshua Mellark, Your my boy with the bread, The love of my life, my future, my everything and I promise I will do my best to cherish every moment we have with each other. I love you so much and I'm so sorry its taken me so long to see it. I have never expected to get married and have children, but I guess fate went against that. Your the most amazing, wonderful human being that...that" My voice is breaking and happy tears threatened to spill, "That I have ever met and I'm so happy with the way things have turned out. You mean everything to me Peeta Mellark and I wouldn't trade the time we had together in for anything. I love you, I love you, I love you."

The preacher turns to Peeta. "Do you Peeta Mellark take thee Katniss Everdeen, to be your lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold from this day on, in sickness and in health, for richer and poor as long as you both shall live?"

"I do" Peeta says.

"Do you Katniss Everdeen take thee Peeta Mellark, to be your lawfully wedded husband to have and to hold from this day on, for richer and poor, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live?"

"I do" I say with a smile.

"If anyone has any objections as to why these two should not be wed speak now or forever hold your peace." The woods were dead silent, nothing can be heard but the sound of joyful tears and laughs. Peeta and I slid each others rings on our fingers and wait for the next direction the preacher has to give us. "By the power vested in me, by the country of Panem I now pronounce you man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Mellark, you may kiss your bride." Peeta doesn't hesitate he crashes his lips to me and drives me into the most passionate, deep, meaningful kiss we have ever shared in our entire life. We kissed and kissed and kissed, the crowd erupted into applause, but we pay for little attention to them. I hear the minister say "Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Mellark" My lips remained locked with his, arms wrapped around his neck, his on my waist.

"OKAY, thats enough, your making me sick" Haymitch shouted with a chuckle.

Our lips part. "I love you Mr. Mellark"

"I love you, Mrs. Mellark."

"Always"

"Always"


End file.
